Patent ID: 8215900

Claim:
A turbine vane comprising: an inner shroud; an outer shroud; and an airfoil extending between the inner and outer shrouds, the airfoil having an inner end region and an outer end region, the airfoil transitioning to the inner shroud in the inner end region and transitioning to the outer shroud in the outer end region, the airfoil including a substructure and an external skin attached to the substructure by a plurality of attachment members extending therebetween, wherein each attachment member interlockingly engages at least one of the substructure and the external skin; wherein the external skin is made of a plurality of skin segments; and wherein one of the plurality of skin segments covers a leading edge region of the airfoil, wherein each of the skin segments has an associated thickness, wherein the thickness of the skin segment that covers the leading edge region of the airfoil is greater than the thickness of the other skin segments.