Ghengis,
It is interesting that I was at Dorniers during the eighties when composite was all the rage and they were making the SeaStar out of composites.
They of course had a large laboritory R&D group looking at all the possible types of composites and their usage.
They also had an equally large group trying to find ways of determining continuing structural integrity of these parts using Xray, ultrasonic, HFEC, LFEC and all other know magic. There never was anyone who could put his hand on heart and say - yes this is as good as the day it was made !!!
[ 16 November 2001: Message edited by: GotTheTshirt ]