An interview with….. Arthur Webb FRAeS on bringing Carbon Fibre to Civil Aviation

After marching up to the front gate of the BAC Weybridge factory and demanding to see the Chief Stressman, Arthur Webb was given the job of finding something useful to do with the new magic composite material discovered at the Royal Aircraft Establishment – carbon fibre.

In this part of his oral history interview, Arthur explores how he led a team to design the first certified civil aircraft component for an aeroplane, a pair of load carrying rudder panels on a VC10, with no data, no experience and no background. Arthur also retells the amazing story of he, thanks to good contacts and a lot of guile, persuaded Rolls-Royce that they too should use carbon fibre for structural applications.

Eur Ing Arthur Webb FRAeS was interviewed by Tony Pilmer FRAeS in 2024 as part of the Royal Aeronautical Society/National Aerospace Library’s oral history project ‘If I only didn’t do it that way…….” Capturing history from the horse’s mouth' to inspire today’s aeronautical professionals'. The recording was edited by Eur Ing Mike Stanberry FRAeS.