Crab - Interesting in your post about the aluminium bending and composites dont. Us Kiwis are very familiar with the way composites let go when they do, and I refer to the mast of the Team New Zealand boat in the Americas Cup on Auckland harbour.
It let go with a hell of a snap like a bomb going off and that was the end of it, whereas in the old days the metal masts would start to signs of failure before they went.
Ned