Re: The plastic Boeing 787
As an ex First Choice chap (who may well be the launch Uk carrier) we had the 7e7 (as it was then) design/marketing & test pilot team come and give us a talk.
They were keen to show just how strong the new compound was, video clips of people hitting the upper surface of a compound wing with a hammer, look no dents. Then the same with metal wing, big dents!
I think most people are aware of the lack of warning that these compounds can give of failure, just ask Pete Goss in his Team Phillips catamaran! When aksed this exact point the Boeing team replied "manufacturers have been making Military a/c with this technology for years now."
Damage warning; In terms of how will it react to being hit by a catering truck, who knows, what Boeing have included though is layers of circuitry. When, say, one wire is broken you'll get a "yellow" warning in the cockpit, when more, an "amber" etc. Quite clever I guess.
Electric Brakes; Other features from the presentation include; electric brakes, four motors per brake unit. The theory being that anti-skid is limited by the springs' speed at reacting when the hydraulics are released, electric brakes would be "motored" in both directions increasing anti-skid capability.
No engine bleeds; I think this is quite widely known, they feel that it's more efficient to use other power sources thus increasing fuel savings by 5%
Wi-Fi & ANR In line with the rest of the world, the a/c cabin would be wireless for laptops etc. Also there's active noise reduction in the cabin although interestingly they didn't want it too good as the a/c with it's new compounds apparently has a "deadened" sound to it already, you wouldn't want to hear someone in row 40 on their mobile!