Main content

How glues helped us fly

Mark Miodownik explores how some of the biggest revolutions in aircraft design have been down to adhesives.

In this series, materials scientist Mark Miodownik charts the journey of human progress through the sticky substances that have shaped us.

In episode three he explores how adhesives have unlocked radically new designs for aircraft, letting us build planes that flew higher, faster and further than ever before.

He learns how, during WWII, adhesives allowed Britain to build a fighter plane that could outstrip anything else in the sky.

And he hears how glues are used to create the strong and lightweight stuff that planes are made out of today – materials that will be central to the goal of environmentally sustainable flight.

Contributors:
Christopher Wilk, Victoria and Albert Museum
Ginger Gardiner, Composites World

Producer: Anand Jagatia
Presenter: Mark Miodownik
Executive Producer: Sasha Feachem
Ö÷²¥´óÐã Studios Audio Production

Available now

14 minutes

On radio

Thu 3 Oct 2024 09:45

Broadcasts

  • Wed 17 Apr 2024 13:45
  • Thu 3 Oct 2024 09:45
  • Sat 5 Oct 2024 05:45