I love wooden planes, too ;)

All I am trying to say is that in the technical world, as in nature, 
there is usually more than one solution to a problem. They are local 
optima, defined by environmental (in the widest sense) constraints.

In the technical world we now have the choice of at least 40 000 to 80 
000 materials on hand, many of them well suited for the same 
application.  The final choice is mostly dictated by cost, availability, 
experience in manufacturing with it and safety (in aerospace engineering 
a new material takes about 20 years from "invention" to use, primarily 
due to safety issues).   Wooden aircrafts are good examples for this 
(one-way transport gliders as much as the Mosquitos), as is the use of 
magnesium in cars (Germany first resorted to it due to a lack of 
aluminium during WWII and VW is using it again in its newest models to 
save weight and reduce fuel consumption) ... the use of a pencil in 
space ...

or the use of cork to seal wine bottles. It was available at low cost 
and in sufficient quality and quantity, had an advantageous poissons 
ratio, so that it could be put in easily, and it worked well for about 
2000 years.  Now I hear from winegrowers in France and in Germany that 
screwtops are the best choice, since the quality of cork has decreased 
dramatically in recent years and polymer foams are not sealing the 
bottle well enough. But again, the choice depends on the lifetime and 
maturation potential of the wine ... and that is probably the point, 
where belief and religion start ...

Anyway, I am off to enjoy a "Viertele" Lemberger now.  Cheers!
Ulrike

PS:
"Viertele" = dialect for 0.25l of wine (the typical quantity held in one 
glass in Württemberg)
Lemberger = grape grown in this region, which produces rather good red 
wine --- try it, and you will be convinced that Germany can do better 
than Liebfraumilch, Blue Nun and all the other delicacies.


James R. Cunningham schrieb:

>Spot on.  And Mosquitos are still being built today, without the guns.
>
>>Richard Bonser wrote:
>>
>>Wood planes have, of course been sucessfully developed. In the 1940's
>>De Havilland developed the Mosquito, the fuselage and wings being
>>constructed entirely out of wood. Although obviously much smaller that
>>a 747 (it's wingspan was 54'), its construction conferred weight
>>advantages over using metal. Principally, the plane was much lighter
>>than a metal equivalent, had lower drag (no rivets) and didn't consume
>>much-needed metal at the time.
>>