Initial experiments have been performed to characterize the scattering of acoustic waves from glass/ epoxy and graphite/epoxy composite panels. Experiments were conducted in the region 0.1 ≤ ka ≤ 1.0 on both types of fiber reinforced composites. The data clearly show that a maximum in the backscattering ultrasonic energy occurs for orientations which place the fiber axis perpendicular to the propagation vector.