Mixed fortunes for aerospace materials

In materials terms, this summer's Farnborough Air Show in the UK was dominated by two events. One was
the Airbus Industrie decision definitely to offer its A3XX to the airline industry - presaging a final 'green
light" soon. The other was the tragic and shocking Air France Concorde crash. The first depended, at least in part, on a business case built on the potential of innovative materials. The second could, it seems, be put down to a materials and design failure.