Its body and wings are made entirely of advanced composite materials far lighter and stronger than the aluminum most aircraft are made of today. As a result, the plane needs less maintenance than conventional aircraft and flies as far on a gallon of fuel as planes much smaller. Advanced composites like those in the Starship were unheard of 25 years ago. Yet they have already spread throughout the transportation industry and into everyday objects where higher performance provides an advantage. They add lightness and strength to racing boats and cars, golf clubs, and electric guitars.
Composites are simply a matrix of one material reinforced by fibers or particles of another.
Today steel rods are used to reinforce concrete highways, bridges, and buildings. Resin reinforced by glass fibers is probably the most widely used composite today. Advanced composites, however, are in a class alone. Skyrocketing fuel prices in the 1970s made the new materials attractive to civil aviation, where their lower weight I has helped cut the cost of operating airliners. I The broadening market and more efficient processing techniques have reduced the cost of composites to a level where they can now OCR for page 27 be used in many other products, especially sporting goods.