Wooden spars and rain

[Thumper]

Hey all, wooden spar 7KCAB owner here... fortunately I live and hangar the plane in the southwestern US (Arizona) which is probably the best place to keep a wood and fabric plane due to the very dry climate. Currently on an XC to Idaho to do some light back country flying on some grass strips and have my plane tied down on the ramp overnight where there was some showers and high humidity. This got me thinking, do small occasional exposure instances like this really warrant any type of concern for the longevity of the spar? Fortunately the rest of the week is looking good and is forecasted to be rain free with very low humidity to help dry things out...

 

[Bob Turner]

Not if your spar is adequately varnished and you fly once a week.

We have airborne termites, and I worry a bit about that, but I think the answer is good varnish.

 

[Tangogawd]

You are fine. Here in Alaska most planes sit out in the weather. I work on many wood spar planes and rarely find a problem, and when I do.... it almost always is a result of poor condition of the varnish. After the varnish goes away, it'll take a long time for the spar to be unrepairable.

 

[Ron86654]

For about the first 50 years of aviation, airplanes had wood spars (among other parts). There did not seem to be the angst about wood then. It wasn't until after WWII that aluminum became available and cheap. Making airplanes out of aluminum was much cheaper than making them of wood. The labor involved was infinitely cheaper. There is nothing wrong with wood in airplanes, just take care of it. Same can be said of aluminum, have you seen the aluminum airplane ADs that came out recently?