You say in Future of flight, "Digital dreams" (Flight International, 11-17 November) that in 1953 the North American F-100 was the first aircraft to have integrally stiffened wing skins. The Lockheed Constellation had such panels, developed around 1949 when the Shot Peen forming process was introduced on these skins by Metal Improvement in collaboration with Lockheed.
Richard Tatton
Metal Improvement, Broughton, Cheshire, UK
Source: Flight International