Ah... ok

It's not that I'm obsessed, I have a zero level of mechanical understanding or ability (anything I approach with a screwdriver falls apart - permanently & of its own volition)

So what you're saying is that if the thing delaminates in flight, it wouldn't actually disintegrate, but would actually be held together by the pressure inside the fuselage holding the different layers together, but there might be an air leak?

I'm not sure I'm exactly comforted by this thought...

It's a balloon inside a balloon inside a balloon, inside a balloon, all with a leaky valve.

It may leak but it aint' gonna go bang

I like that one :ok:
It´s the best way to describe the inherent damage tolerance of a multi layer composite material compared to a monolithic single aluminium skin.

To add, in a pressurized area those layers are more compressed during flight and have less exposure to the elements. Un pressurized composite materials are more susceptible to fatigue from my point of view,

The H and V stabs on the 777 have a less advanced (earlier tech) fiber composite. Have there been any incidents of catastrophic failure of these? They are two parts of the ship that are subject to a lot of force.

What does this mean for the 787?