Types of Aircraft Wings

We all know that an aircraft’s wings are one of the most significant, if not the most crucial, components of the plane. Aircraft wings provide lift, which allows the plane to leave the ground and take off, as well as hold the fuel. As a result, wings feature streamlined cross-sections that operate as airfoils and are subject to aerodynamic forces. Aircraft have a wide range of wing designs. This article will go through the types of wings.

Wings configuration and shape:

When you look at different types of planes, you’ll see that their wing shapes and configurations vary. What are the different sorts of wings?
Wings come in a variety of forms and sizes. Wing design can be altered to achieve specific flight characteristics. As the shape of the wing is changed, control at various operating speeds, the amount of lift generated balance, and stability all change.
The wing’s leading and trailing edges might be straight or curved, or one edge can be straight and the other curved. One or both edges of the wing may be tapered, resulting in a wing that is narrower at the tip than at the root, where it connects to the fuselage. The tip of the wing might be square, rounded, or pointed.

Low wing, mid-wing, high wing, dihedral wing, anhedral wing, gull wing, and inverted gull wing are the seven major wing configurations used on planes. In addition, aircraft wings come in five various shapes: rectangular, tapered straight, elliptical, swept, and delta.

This indicates that there are a total of 35 different wing configurations; however, not all wing forms can be employed in all of them. Therefore, there are a variety of possible combinations and setups.

Types of Aircraft Wings, Based On Mounting Position And Style:

Low Wing Configuration

The low wing design is quite popular, and it’s probably the one you’re most familiar with if you just fly single-engine planes. While some smaller planes (such as the Cessna 172), do not employ the low wing design, the majority do.

The term “low wing configuration” simply refers to the wings being situated low on the plane’s fuselage, below the center. This layout is advantageous to pilots since it often provides the best overall sight because the pilots will have an unrestricted view to the left, right, ahead, and up. This standard layout also makes planes easier to handle and a little more sensitive to control modifications.

Mid Wing Configuration

When the wings are situated right in the center of the plane’s body, halfway up the fuselage, it’s called a mid-wing arrangement. Because this wing arrangement needs support inside the fuselage to support the installation of the wings, the total usable area inside the fuselage is substantially reduced. This is why this arrangement is far less common than the other two with the same name.

The most significant advantage of the mid-wing design is that the plane is as balanced as it can be in flight and provides superior stability to low-wing planes. In exchange, these planes are often less responsive and nimble than their low-wing counterparts.

High Wing Configuration

This is the design in which the wings are attached to the fuselage at the top. This is the sort of arrangement you’ll find on large freight and military planes, as well as certain smaller planes like the Cessna 172 Skyhawk discussed above.

The high wing layout is good for big freight and military transport planes because it allows the fuselage to be closer to the ground, making cargo and people loading and unloading simpler. The reason for this is that the engines are located on the bottom of the wings, but because the wings are situated high on the fuselage, the engines have plenty of room beneath and the fuselage can still be near to the ground.

Dihedral Wing Configuration

The fundamental difference between wings with this configuration and those without is that the tips of the wings are higher than the base that attaches to the fuselage. To promote stability when flying and turning, the wings are slanted up from the plane’s body, which is normally situated low on the fuselage. This design is great for tiny planes because it allows them to quickly level down and be stable after a fast flight.

Anhedral Wing Configuration

Because the wings are oriented downward from the fuselage to the end of the wings, their tips are lower than their bases. The wings are normally installed in the high wing configuration, attached to the plane on the upper surface of the body, to guarantee there is adequate room for it.

This is one of the least frequent wing layouts, with just a handful of current aircraft using it. When other sections of the plane contribute too much lateral stability, anhedral wings are often utilized to lessen stability.

Gull Wing Configuration

The gull-wing layout employs a dihedral wing shape that angles upwards right at the body. However, after a short distance, the dihedral angle is either greatly decreased or completely negated, and the remainder of the wing may be flat.

The primary motivation for the development of gull wings was to provide sufficient space for engines and propellers. There is enough room for propellers and the pilot’s view in the immediate region beyond the cockpit is increased by arching sharply upwards and then flattening out. A peculiar yet extremely helpful design.

Inverted Gull Wing

The inverted gull wing is the inverse of the regular gull-wing configuration. The wings are installed at the bottom of the airplane and then shoot rapidly downward, resembling an inverted dihedral, with this wing layout. Then, like a conventional dihedral wing, they kick back upwards – each wing generates its own long-tailed “V” shape.

The inverted gull wing arrangement is utilized to reinforce the plane while also reducing overall weight, two tasks that are normally difficult to do simultaneously. This is due to the fact that this specific wing type allows the undercarriage on which the wings are mounted to be shortened and the fuselage to be lifted, resulting in a construction that is both lighter and stronger.

Types of Aircraft Wings Based On Shape and Design

Rectangular Wing

The rectangular wing is the simplest to visualize in your mind without understanding anything about aviation or wing design in general. It is the most basic wing, not only in terms of recognition but also in terms of construction owing to its simplicity.

There are no odd angles to account for, and they are simply made up of straight lines. All of these benefits are fantastic for manufacturing, but they aren’t so great for real flight. Rectangular wings are not the most aerodynamic of wing forms, which is why they are rarely seen in modern aircraft.

Tapered Straight Wing

Due to a far more aerodynamic design overall, this tapered form substantially boosted the plane’s efficiency, but it’s still not a very good wing in the broad scheme of things.
Apart from being an improvement over the rectangular form, the tapered wing had one major advantage: it was still very simple to construct. It’s a little more difficult to construct than the rectangular wing, but it’s still a lot easier than some of the better overall designs.

Elliptical Wing

One of the most efficient and aerodynamic wing forms ever devised is the elliptical wing. It’s very efficient in terms of aerodynamics since the entire wing may benefit from the wing’s curve and the resulting lift distribution.
Its downside is that they are extremely difficult to produce.
To begin with, the entire wing is curved, which is significantly more difficult to manufacture than the rectangular wing’s straight lines.
Second, these wings were meant to be as thin as possible, which adds to the production challenges.

Swept Wing

They are Wing tips that are swept back relative to the base where they are affixed to the fuselage are
The form of swept-back wings actually decreases drag during flight, which is a significant benefit. This allows the airplane to fly through the air more effectively since it is not subjected to the negative effects of drag. High-speed commercial jets that travel at transonic speeds often have swept-back wings

Delta Wing

Delta wings are triangular-shaped wings that are primarily employed with supersonic aircraft in certain conditions. They have the distinct benefit of being efficient in both subsonic and supersonic flight, which is something that the bulk of wing forms cannot claim. Also, they give a vast surface area, which makes the aircraft extremely agile.
Its disadvantages are as follows:

• The delta wings’ low aspect ratio generates excessive drag, which is not desirable.
• Because of their design and the lift, they create at low speeds, delta wings require a high angle of attack during takeoff and landing.

Sources:

• https://www.aircraftsystemstech.com/p/wings-wing-configurations-wings-are.html
• https://www.skytough.com/post/types-of-wings-on-airplanes-aircraft
• Cover photo by: Samuel Au

Safwa Ashraf

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