The company hopes its 787 airliner will be the first with a pressurised fuselage made from lightweight, fuel-saving carbon-fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) composite materials, rather than aluminium.

公司希望787客机将成为第一个采用为了轻型节能的碳素纤维强化塑料（CFRP）组成的材料取代铝制成的机身。

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Modeled on a stick insect, Hector features a very light exoskeleton made from carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP).

仿照竹节虫，赫克托拥有很轻的外骨骼制成碳纤维增强塑料(CFRP)。

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"The carbon fibre reinforced plastic parts are at least 30% lighter than aluminium and 50% lighter than steel for identical component use, so the vehicle weighs 300kg less than an ordinary vehicle, " Mr Bauman explains.

BBC: Knitting and baking the cars of the future

Worldwide, airlines have been slowly but steadily putting into operation two next-generation aircraft -- Boeing's 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 -- both of which have shells made heavily of composite materials, such as carbon-fibre reinforced plastic, instead of aluminium.

BBC: Increased comfort in the sky

One of the ways that Chapman added lightness to his cars, the use of composite materials such as carbon fibre and glass-reinforced plastic, is not that practical either.

ECONOMIST: Tech.view: Unbearable lightness? | The