The Rivetted Wing
This picture of the wing of the 747 shows the rivets that hold it together.
747 Wing
By the way, the upturned end of the wing is an aerodynamic device to increase efficiency.
If you are on Airbus as opposed to a Boeing, you’ll see differences.
For a start the Airbus uses a different end to a wing in that they have more of a sideways delta at the end.
But the main difference is that Airbus glue their wings, whilst Boeing use rivets.
Glue? You might ask.
But they have doing it for years. In fact the technology was first started by de Havilland and was applied very successfully to the Mosquito of World War II fame. They then applied it to the Comet and Trident airliners before using it on all Airbus wings.
The advantage is that glue carries the loads between the parts of the wing continuously, whereas with rivets the stresses are carried only at points, which have been weakened by the rivet holes. This means that it should be possible to have a lighter wing for the same strength with glue.
Some technologies may seem strange, but don’t know them if they work.
The Anonymous Widower 
XJ Jaguars are glued also.
Comment by John Wright | May 13, 2010 |