1976 – McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle

McDonnell Aircraft began using computers to help lay out designs in 1969, and developed the computer-aided design system used in development of the F-15 fighter (pictured). The F-15A and Grumman F-14A, both flown first in 1974, used boron-fiber composites in the tails. But boron fiber was expensive, and the U.S. moved to carbon-fiber composite for wing skins on the Boeing AV-8B, F/A-18 and Northrop B-2.

1985 – Airbus A310

The first carbon-fiber primary structure in a production commercial aircraft was the vertical stabilizer of the Airbus A310-300, first flown in 1985. It marked the beginning of a progression of increasing composites use in the European manufacturer’s airliners that added the horizontal stabilizer with the A320 in 1987 and A330/A340 in 1994 and the center wing-box and aft fuselage of the A380 in 2005.

2011 – Boeing 787

Use of carbon-fiber composites in commercial aircraft reached a landmark 50% of structure weight with the Boeing 787, first flown in 2011, where the material allowed a more slender, lower-drag wing and higher cabin pressurization and humidity. Aluminum was reduced to 20%, but titanium boosted to 15%. The competing Airbus A350, flown in 2013, is 53% carbon-fiber by structure weight.

2013 – Bombardier C Series

Looking ahead, Bombardier’s all-new C Series narrowbody suggests one balance of materials and manufacturing in aircraft, at least for future single-aisle airliners. The aircraft has a carbon-fiber composite wing, produced using dry-fiber composites and resin transfer infusion, and a metallic fuselage using lightweight aluminum-lithium alloy for damage resistance and repairability.