View Full Version : Boeing main wing spar
wewereborndrunk
11th Aug 2022, 19:14
Hi all
Im having a discussion with someone about boeing airliner wing construction. He is asserting that the main wing spars are made from titanium but this does not seem right to me. My understanding that it is aluminium/magnesium alloy. Specifically 70s, 80s and 90s construction on the 747,767 and 777. Can anyone help confirm this?
thanks for your help.
HOVIS
11th Aug 2022, 19:27
According to this its Ally.
https://www.airframer.com/aircraft_detail.html?model=B747#:~:text=Main%20fuselage%20an d%20wing%20spars,from%20titanium%2C%20steel%20and%20aluminiu m.
tdracer
11th Aug 2022, 21:39
I've never heard of titanium being used in the primary wing structure - it's all a high-tech aluminum alloy (at least prior to the 787 - which of course is composite).
Ti gets used in other places, but not the primary wing structure.
CV880
16th Aug 2022, 15:17
The only large Titanium part in the wing structure of a 747 is the wing landing gear support beam which supports the aft trunnion of the wing gear. Possibly this is also Ti on other Boeing models.
Diff Tail Shim
25th Aug 2022, 15:52
727 is aluminium alloy. The rear spar lower web at the root of one I had to remove the paint and the tonnes of filler the French MRO that previously had the flying palace had used to cover the corrosion (and the crack that had grown to14 inches) was defo 2024 alloy.
Less Hair
25th Aug 2022, 17:25
The Lockheed A-12 and SR-71 were mostly made of titanium for heat resistance. It would be quite likely that the spars were made of titanium too. They even founded some innocent looking front company in Canada to import all the titanium needed from the USSR.
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-7f19138130a96372fa8f6b0f4149f806Lockheed Martin
Diff Tail Shim
25th Aug 2022, 19:02
The Lockheed A-12 and SR-71 were mostly made of titanium for heat resistance. It would be quite likely that the spars were made of titanium too. They even founded some innocent looking front company in Canada to import all the titanium needed from the USSR.
https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-7f19138130a96372fa8f6b0f4149f806Lockheed Martin
The OP asked about Boeings.
Less Hair
25th Aug 2022, 19:36
And Titanium spars.