A materials revolution has been sweeping aviation science since the 1970’s. The most exciting material development— carbon composite fibers. Standard commercial aircraft has over 4 million parts; the efficiency and versatility of composite materials could reduce this number, and as a result, lighten the weight of modern aircraft by at least 20%. To put that into perspective, for every kilogram of weight reduced by these fibers, an aircraft manufacturer can save around one million dollars in overall production costs.