I was recently flying on an A380 and from my window seat, I could see the vast expanse of the wing. It was HUGE – you could play badminton (or cricket for those who are familiar) on it.
And I just couldn’t fathom how it holds up with most of its length having no support. It’s carrying the weight of thousands of litres of fuel and two large engines, while being subjected to all the forces there would be while taking off, landing, and in-flight banking, turbulence, etc.
What is the engineering that causes them to not break?
In: Engineering
First, the wings themselves are made of materials that are both very strong *and* very flexible, like aluminum alloys and/or various composite or carbon fiber materials. [You can see the internal structure of an airplane wing here](https://d2t1xqejof9utc.cloudfront.net/screenshots/pics/854947b496763fb07fee4164cb986108/large.png). So the materials themselves are very strong, and [the wings themselves can also flex quite a lot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–LTYRTKV_A) so they don’t snap under stress or force they’re expected to encounter.
>And I just couldn’t fathom how it holds up with most of its length having no support
They actually have *a ton* of support, you just don’t see it, much like how you don’t really see the steel and concrete support structure of a skyscraper. Aircraft wings aren’t just attached to the body of the plane on the outer skin. The internal support spars of the wings actually go all the way through the body of plane, which is called the [center wing box](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355380957/figure/fig1/AS:1080311945396237@1634577847252/The-fitting-joint-between-the-center-wing-section-and-the-outer-wing-section-of-the.jpg). At the center wing box, the support structures of the wing are very securely attached to both each other and the internal structure of the plane, so all of the stress and forces from the wings are smoothly transferred across the entire body of the plane. It’s sort of like how the wheels on a car aren’t just attached to the outside of a car but instead are attached to axles that go across the width of the car.
So in short, strong yet flexible materials and also a ton of internal structure and support that you don’t see.
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