Definition
An aircraft wing structure built around more than two spanwise spars, with the bending and shear loads shared across the multiple spars rather than carried primarily by a single main spar. Multispar construction is commonly used in high-performance and pressurized aircraft because it provides redundant load paths and a stiffer, more damage-tolerant wing.
Plain English
A wing built with several long internal beams running from root to tip, instead of just one or two. The load of flight is shared across all of them, which makes the wing stronger and safer if one part is damaged.
Context Anchor
Seen in aircraft structure descriptions, maintenance manuals, and discussions of how a wing carries flight loads.
Derivation
Multi- comes from Latin multus, meaning 'many.' Spar is an old shipbuilding word for a long pole or beam. So a multispar wing is literally a wing built around many internal beams.
Why Pilots Care
A multispar design increases wing strength and allows larger fuel tanks or different airfoil shapes while keeping weight reasonable; pilots must know the limits published for that specific structure.
Intuition Check
Multispar does not mean the wing has many separate wings. It means one wing has more than one main internal support beam.
Example Sentence 1
The aircraft's multispar wing distributes flight loads across four spars, giving it excellent damage tolerance.
Example Sentence 2
Because the airplane has a multispar wing, the fuel tanks could be placed between the spars without weakening the structure.