What material is used for wing spars?
A typical metal spar in a general aviation aircraft usually consists of a sheet aluminium spar web, with L- or T-shaped spar caps being welded or riveted to the top and bottom of the sheet to prevent buckling under applied loads. Wooden spars are usually made from spruce. Lamination of solid wood spars is often used to increase strength. Currently, most manufactured aircraft have wing spars made of solid extruded aluminum or aluminum extrusions riveted together to form the spar.
What is the wing spar?
Wing Spars can be thought of as the skeleton or the frame of an aviation wing. Fuselage is fastened to the Wing Spars to hold in place. Airframe and Fuselage inspections might also involve the inspection of the spars to determine the structural integrity of the wing. They give each wing the strength to take the bending load for lift. Often referred to as the “backbone” or “skeleton” of the wing, they run the width of the aircraft (horizontally). After a wing is sealed, the spars disappear from sight.