![]() ![]() Wing loading, or the ratio of an airplane’s weight to its surface area, is the average load each unit of the wing must carry. Let’s try to fix that, by discussing how wing and power loading are determined, their implications for aircraft design implications on wing and power loading, and factors causing wing and power loading to be moving numbers. ![]() ![]() (That former student quit flying and decided to run for public office-a future senator no doubt.)Īll of which highlights the problem: Many pilots seem to have a cursory or no understanding of some important aerodynamic concepts. A naïve, marginal flight student stated wing loading was having many people atop the wings of an airplane. One pilot with about 2000 hours of flight time told me wing and power loading were esoteric concepts, not relevant for everyday flying, and the purview of aircraft engineers only. When I mention them while conducting flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks, many pilots look at me as if I’m speaking the Vulcan language from Star Trek. Why can one airplane take off and land on short runways while another requires significantly longer takeoff and landing distances? Why does one airplane have better performance (rate of climb, airspeed) than another? Is the airplane you’re about to fly underpowered or overpowered? The answers to these and similar questions lie in understanding fundamental aerodynamic concepts like wing loading and power loading.
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