Aircraft materials used today

[jo123]

I'm doing a project at the moment and need to work out what materials were used for aircraft skins at certain dates in history.

I need to fill out a table that looks like this:

| Date | Materials used for the aircraft skin | Type of air craft |
| 1790 | silk .| Hot air balloon |

I don't know if this is the right forum for this question but if anyone could help me it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[FLYBOYJ]

Originally Posted by jo123

I'm doing a project at the moment and need to work out what materials were used for aircraft skins at certain dates in history.

I need to fill out a table that looks like this:

| Date | Materials used for the aircraft skin | Type of air craft |
| 1790 | silk .| Hot air balloon |

I don't know if this is the right forum for this question but if anyone could help me it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Broad question, here's a start

2024 ALUMINUM for skins and either T-3 or T-4 depending on location. During WW2 it carried the designation of 24T. Still in use today.

Get a copy of Advisory Circular 43.13, it's put out by the FAA, it might give you a good base for aluminum, wood and fabric used in aircraft construction.

[Stitch]

FLYBOYJ pretty much said; approximately 95% of the aircraft flying these days are made out of aircraft-grade aluminun alloy, with the other 5% made up of wood, stainless steel,titanium and various composites. Titanium was very popular in the '60's and '70's for the construction of exotic, high-performance aircraft, like the SR-71, but it was very difficult to manufacture back then. Nowadays, most high-performance aircraft (F-22, F-35, Eurofighter, etc.) use a lot of composite materials, like carbon-fiber, thermoset resins, and thermoplastics.