This color picture from 1980 is an official National Aeronautics and Space Administration film report produced for NASA by Boeing in 1979. It dates to the dawn of the composite materials revolution, when a nearly $9 million research program was created to study whether an advanced composite elevator could be made for the cargo version of the Boeing 727. The picture focuses on the continuing efforts of manufacturers to develop aircraft that are lighter and more fuel efficient without sacrificing structural integrity. The film consists of scenes of engineers and designers working with a variety of composite materials as a narrator details the various technical measures being undertaken. At mark 02:05, the viewer is shown on such development — an advanced-composite elevator for the Boeing 727 — which makes up the majority of the film. Following its introduction, the narrator spends the remainder of the film providing a detailed explanation of its design, testing, and construction, as a film crew captures the action. The advanced composite elevator reduced the weight of the assembly by 26% and the number of parts by over 40%.

This film shows advances made in the 1970s when the composites industry began to mature. Better plastic resins and improved reinforcing fibers were developed. DuPont developed an aramid fiber known as Kevlar, which has become the product of choice in body armor due to its high tensile strength, high density and light weight. Carbon fiber was also developed around this time; increasingly, it has replaced parts formerly made of steel.