> I see wing loading mentioned from time to time in aircraft reviews, but
> never defined.
> I can guess at a definition, but what is the connection to performance with
> regard to tolerating turbulence etc?
> Can anyone help?!
Wing loading is the area of the wing divided by the weight of the airplane.
A low wing loading airplane like a motorglider tends to be slower and is
more affected by turbulence (called thermals by the soaring crowd!). A
high wing loading airplane tend to be faster and are more able to ignore
turbulance, but they also land much faster (can be dangerous), do not climb
as well and have poor gliding abilities (important in an engine out emergency!).
The Europa seems to be about in the middle of the high performance airplanes
in regards to wing loading. I seem to remember it as being about 15 lb/ft
2.
The Cessna 152 is about 10 lb/ft
2. The range that I saw when I was looking
at various kit planes was between 12 lb/ft
2 and 18 lb/ft
2.
High altitude airplanes tend to have low wing loadings, since you need a big
wing to provide lift in thin air. I wonder how high a Europa with glider
wings and a 914 could go?
This metric is only an indication of how big a wing you have relative to the
size of the airplane; it is better to have a look at the cruise speed and
climb/glide abilities of the airplane rather than relying on wing loading.
Brian Rauchfuss
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