Foreword to first edition Composite Materials for Aircraft Structures,edited by B.C.Hoskin and A.A. Baker,is the latest addition to the AIAA Education Series inaugurated in 1984. The series represents AlAA's response to the need for textbooks and monographs in highly specialized disciplines of aeronautics and astronautics.Composite Materials for Aircraft Structures,just such a case in point,should prove particularly timely because the field has surged in composite applications Composite Materials for Aircraft Structures provides a broad introduction to virtually all aspects of the technology of composite materials for aircraft structural applications:the basic theory of fiber reinforcements;material characteristics of the commonly used fibers,resins,and composite systems; components form and manufacture;structural mechanics of composite laminates; composite joints;environmental effects;durability and damage tolerance; nondestructive inspection(NDI)and repair procedures;aircraft applications;and airworthiness considerations. This text,expanded and updated,has been prepared from notes used in a series of lectures given at the Aeronautical Research Laboratories (ARL),Melbourne, Victoria,Australia.All lecturers were officers in either the Structures or Aircraft Materials Divisions of ARL.The table of contents gives the names of the lecturers,together with their topics. The lectures originated with a request to ARL from the Australian Department of Aviation's Airworthiness Branch.The Director of the Aeronautical Research Laboratories,Department of Defense,Australia,has authorized publication of the expanded and updated text by AIAA. J.S.PRZEMIENIECKI Editor-in-Chief AlAA Education Series ixForeword to first edition Composite Materials for Aircraft Structures, edited by B. C. Hoskin and A. A. Baker, is the latest addition to the AIAA Education Series inaugurated in 1984. The series represents AIAA's response to the need for textbooks and monographs in highly specialized disciplines of aeronautics and astronautics. Composite Materials for Aircraft Structures, just such a case in point, should prove particularly timely because the field has surged in composite applications. Composite Materials for Aircraft Structures provides a broad introduction to virtually all aspects of the technology of composite materials for aircraft structural applications: the basic theory of fiber reinforcements; material characteristics of the commonly used fibers, resins, and composite systems; components form and manufacture; structural mechanics of composite laminates; composite joints; environmental effects; durability and damage tolerance; nondestructive inspection (NDI) and repair procedures; aircraft applications; and airworthiness considerations. This text, expanded and updated, has been prepared from notes used in a series of lectures given at the Aeronautical Research Laboratories (ARL), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. All lecturers were officers in either the Structures or Aircraft Materials Divisions of ARL. The table of contents gives the names of the lecturers, together with their topics. The lectures originated with a request to ARL from the Australian Department of Aviation' s Airworthiness Branch. The Director of the Aeronautical Research Laboratories, Department of Defense, Australia, has authorized publication of the expanded and updated text by AIAA. J. S. PRZEMIENIECKI Editor-in-Chief AIAA Education Series ix