I think it is misleading to talk about 'wooden' structures without looking in more detail at the finer points of construction - a Mosquito fuselage for example is a 'composite' of thin plywood skins on a balsa core, and may well actually have been stronger than an aluminium structure of the same weight. I suspect the real objections to the use of wood in aircraft are more related in problems with consistancy, protection against moisture, and difficulties in bonding (less of a problem now than during WWII). In a sense, the move from metal aircraft construction to composites (carbon fibre etc) is going full circle - wood is a natural 'composite', and has the advantage of millions of years of natural selection to perfect the 'design'.
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03-16-2010, 02:45 AM
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