Today, we use different structural designs for aircraft than we once did. Previously, many of the airplanes had a steel or aluminum tubular frame, wrapped in a cover such as cloth, fabric, or ceconite. With better manufacturing techniques for carbon composites, aluminum, and fiberglass airplanes just aren’t designed that way anymore. Often now they have bulkheads of aluminum, with an aluminum skin riveted very tightly to give it added strength, similar to a soda can.
Nevertheless, we have some new future space-age materials coming onto the scene, which could be used with a similar strategy as the previous cloth, fabric, or ceconite. For instance, consider if you will carbon nano tubes and graphene coatings. Very thin sheets of these materials could be used as a cover just as they were back in the cloth and fabric days. This could cause a resurgence of former structural designs, although now since we know even more, and have better design tools to ensure structural integrity, we could take this to a higher level, while still using the basic old tubular/cover concept.
There are quite a few advantages to using carbon nano tubes and graphene coatings, as they conduct electricity, and therefore would make the avionics work better having larger antennas running the length of the aircraft, plus they could be used for battery storage. With the electrical properties, we could use this to help with morphing strategies as well. Also, their strength is unrivaled by anything else, and they are lighter than even the fabric which covered previous airplanes. The tubular steel or aluminum would also be made at of carbon nanotube construction. These aircraft would be stronger, and several magnitudes lighter.
This will improve efficiency, performance, and allow for more weight capacity and useful load. Also, there wouldn’t be any corrosion, and since these space age materials are nearly transparent at the thickness we would use for the aircraft construction, this would alleviate much of the cost of annual inspections for general aviation light aircraft, and make it easier for corporate jet aircraft inspections.
All around, it seems that as soon as these materials are available, they will be integrated into general aviation, and designers and engineers will find more uses for them, as they lighten up these aircraft, and as the manufacturers and aircraft owners enjoy the superior performance such materials will bring.
It is my contention that within two decades all of this will be feasible, and more. Therefore dawning a totally new age for aviation, and perhaps introducing flying cars and personal flying craft as well. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.
