I'll vouch for this: when I worked on the X-30 National Aerospace Plane from 1988-1996, I went to General Dynamics and was given a 6-inch section of the Shuttle leading edge of the wing. It was so heavy, I could barely hold it with one hand. Then the manager there gave me a section, same size, of the new carbon-carbon composites, and it was light as a feather.
> I went to General Dynamics and was given a 6-inch section of the Shuttle leading edge of the wing. It was so heavy, I could barely hold it with one hand. Then the manager there gave me a section, same size, of the new carbon-carbon composites, and it was light as a feather.
Huh? The leading edge of the shuttle wing has *always* been a thin CC shell structure.