Abstract: A blade for use in a fluid flow machine such as a compressor or fan is fabricated by laying up and bonding together a plurality of filament laminates. The filaments of at least a portion of the laminates are skewed, in a chordwise direction, forward and aft of a non-radial blade axis, thus forming a biased layup with the blade center of twist biased forward or aft of the blade radial axis. This significantly increases the torsional frequency of the blade. In one embodiment, the filaments are skewed forward such that no filaments run from the blade leading edge to the blade tip but, rather, from the blade leading edge to the blade root. This orientation permits more strain produced by foreign object impact to be transmitted to the blade root where it can be more easily absorbed and dissipated by the blade supporting disc.