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The wing configuration of a fixed-wing aircraft (including both gliders and powered aeroplanes) is its arrangement of lifting and related surfaces.

The Spitfire wing may be classified as: a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane with unswept elliptical wings of moderate aspect ratio and slight dihedral.
The Spitfire wing may be classified as: "a conventional low-wing cantilever monoplane with unswept elliptical wings of moderate aspect ratio and slight dihedral".

Aircraft designs are often classified by their wing configuration. For example, the Supermarine Spitfire is a conventional low wing cantilever monoplane of straight elliptical planform with moderate aspect ratio and slight dihedral.

Many variations have been tried. Sometimes the distinction between them is blurred, for example the wings of many modern combat aircraft may be described either as cropped compound deltas with (forwards or backwards) swept trailing edge, or as sharply tapered swept wings with large leading edge root extensions (or LERX). Some are therefore duplicated here under more than one heading. This is particularly so for variable geometry and combined (closed) wing types.

Most of the configurations described here have flown (if only very briefly) on full-size aircraft. A few theoretical designs are also notable.

Note on terminology: Most fixed-wing aircraft have left hand and right hand wings in a symmetrical arrangement. Strictly, such a pair of wings is called a wing plane or just plane. However, in certain situations it is common to refer to a plane as a wing, as in "a biplane has two wings", or alternatively to refer to the whole thing as a wing, as in "a biplane wing has two planes". Where the meaning is clear, this article follows common usage, only being more precise where needed to avoid real ambiguity or incorrectness.


Number and position of main planes


Fixed-wing aircraft can have different numbers of wings:


Low wing

Mid wing

Shoulder wing

High wing

Parasol wing

A fixed-wing aircraft may have more than one wing plane, stacked one above another:


Biplane

Unequal-span biplane

Sesquiplane

Inverted sesquiplane

Busemann biplane in cross-section

Triplane

Quadruplane

Multiplane

A staggered design has the upper wing slightly forward of the lower. Long thought to reduce the interference caused by the low pressure air over the lower wing mixing with the high pressure air under the upper wing; however the improvement is minimal and its primary benefit is to improve access to the fuselage. It is common on many successful biplanes and triplanes. Backwards stagger is also seen in a few examples such as the Beechcraft Staggerwing.


Unstaggered biplane

Forwards stagger

Backwards stagger

Cruciform wing weapon

Cruciform rotor wing or X wing rotor

Wing support


To support itself a wing has to be rigid and strong and consequently may be heavy. By adding external bracing, the weight can be greatly reduced. Originally such bracing was always present, but it causes a large amount of drag at higher speeds and has not been used for faster designs since the early 1930s.

The types are:



Cantilever


Strut braced


Wire braced
A braced multiplane may have one or more "bays", which are the compartments created by adding interplane struts; the number of bays refers to one side of the aircraft's wing panels only. For example, the de Havilland Tiger Moth is a single-bay biplane where the Bristol F.2 Fighter is a two-bay biplane.[3]

Single-bay biplane

Two-bay biplane

Box wing

Annular box wing

Cylindrical wing

Joined wing

Flat annular wing

Rhomboidal wing

Wings can also be characterised as:


Rigid delta wing

Flexible Rogallo wing

Wing planform


The wing planform is the silhouette of the wing when viewed from above or below.

See also variable geometry types which vary the wing planform during flight.


Aspect ratio


The aspect ratio is the span divided by the mean or average chord.[10] It is a measure of how long and slender the wing appears when seen from above or below.


Low aspect ratio

Moderate aspect ratio

High aspect ratio

Most variable geometry configurations vary the aspect ratio in some way, either deliberately or as a side effect.


Chord variation along span


The wing chord may be varied along the span of the wing, for both structural and aerodynamic reasons.


Constant chord

Tapered (Trapezoidal)

Reverse tapered

Compound tapered

Constant chord,
tapered outer

Elliptical

Semi-elliptical

Birdlike

Batlike

Circular

Flying saucer

Flat annular

Tailless delta

Tailed delta

Cropped delta

Compound delta

Ogival delta

Wing sweep


Wings may be swept back, or occasionally forwards, for a variety of reasons. A small degree of sweep is sometimes used to adjust the centre of lift when the wing cannot be attached in the ideal position for some reason, such as a pilot's visibility from the cockpit. Other uses are described below.

Some types of variable geometry vary the wing sweep during flight:


Straight

Swept

Forward swept

Variable sweep
(swing-wing)

Variable-geometry
oblique wing

Sweep variation along span


The angle of a swept wing may also be varied, or cranked, along the span:


Crescent

Cranked arrow

M-wing

W-wing

Asymmetrical


On a few asymmetrical aircraft the left and right hand sides are not mirror-images of each other:

Asymmetrical Torque counteraction
by asymmetric span
Variable-geometry
oblique wing

Tailplanes and foreplanes


The classic aerofoil section wing is unstable in pitch, and requires some form of horizontal stabilizing surface. Also it cannot provide any significant pitch control, requiring a separate control surface (elevator) mounted elsewhere - usually on the horizontal stabilizer.


Conventional tail

Canard

Tandem

Three surface

Outboard tail

Tailless

Dihedral and anhedral


Angling the wings up or down spanwise from root to tip can help to resolve various design issues, such as stability and control in flight.

Some biplanes have different degrees of dihedral/anhedral on different wings. The Sopwith Camel had a flat upper wing and dihedral on the lower wing, while the Hanriot HD-1 had dihedral on the upper wing but none on the lower.


Dihedral
 

Anhedral
 

Biplane with dihedral
on both wings

Biplane with dihedral
on lower wing

In a cranked or polyhedral wing the dihedral angle varies along the span. (Note that the description "cranked" varies in usage.[24][25][26][27] See also Cranked arrow planform.)


Gull wing

Inverted gull wing

Dihedral tips

Anhedral tips

Channel wing

Wings vs. bodies


Some designs have no clear join between wing and fuselage, or body. This may be because one or other of these is missing, or because they merge into each other:



Flying wing


Blended body


Lifting body

Some designs may fall into multiple categories depending on interpretation, for example many UAVs or drones can be seen either as a tailless blended wing-body or as a flying wing with a deep centre chord.


Variable geometry


A variable geometry aircraft is able to change its physical configuration during flight.

Some types of variable geometry craft transition between fixed wing and rotary wing configurations. For more about these hybrids, see powered lift.


Variable planform



Variable sweep
(swing-wing)

Variable-geometry
oblique wing
 

Telescoping wing
 

Extending wing
 

Folding wing

Variable section



Variable incidence
wing
Variable camber
aerofoil
Variable thickness
aerofoil

Polymorphism


A polymorphic wing is able to change the number of planes in flight. The Nikitin-Shevchenko IS "folding fighter" prototypes were able to morph between biplane and monoplane configurations after takeoff by folding the lower wing into a cavity in the upper wing.

The slip wing is a variation on the polymorphic idea, whereby a low-wing monoplane was fitted with a second detachable "slip" wing above it to assist takeoff, which was then jettisoned once aloft. The idea was first flown on the experimental Hillson Bi-mono.


Polymorphic wing

Slip wing

Minor independent surfaces


Various minor surfaces
Various minor surfaces

Aircraft may have additional minor aerodynamic surfaces. Some of these are treated as part of the overall wing configuration:


Additional minor features


Additional minor features may be applied to an existing aerodynamic surface such as the main wing:


High lift


High-lift devices
High-lift devices

High-lift devices maintain lift at low speeds and delay the stall to allow slower takeoff and landing speeds:


Spanwise flow control


Spanwise flow control device
Spanwise flow control device

On a swept wing, air tends to flow sideways as well as backwards and reducing this can improve the efficiency of the wing:


Vortex creation


Vortex devices
Vortex devices

Vortex devices maintain airflow at low speeds and delay the stall, by creating a vortex which re-energises the boundary layer close to the wing.


Drag reduction


Drag-reduction devices
Drag-reduction devices

See also



References



Notes


  1. Taylor, J. (Ed.), Jayne's all the world's aircraft 1980–81, Jane's (1980)
  2. Green, W.; Warplanes of the second world war, Vol. 5, Flying boats, Macdonald (1962), p.131
  3. Taylor, 1990. p. 76
  4. Kroo, I. (2005), "Nonplanar Wing Concepts For Increased Aircraft Efficiency", VKI Lecture Series on Innovative Configurations and Advanced Concepts for Future Civil Aircraft June 6–10, 2005
  5. "Nonplanar Wings: Closed Systems". Aero.stanford.edu. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  6. Airliners.net, Lee Richards Annular, 2012, retrieved 31 March 2012
  7. Henderson, William P. and Huffman, Jarrett K.; Aerodynamic characteristics of a tandem wing configuration of a Mach number of 0.30, NASA, October 1975.
  8. Marcel, Arthur; The Ligeti Stratos, ultralightaircraftaustralia.com, 2024. (retrieved 13 May 2022).
  9. Angelucco, E. and Matrciardi, P.; World Aircraft Origins-World War 1, Sampson Low, 1977
  10. Kermode (1972), Chapter 3, p. 103.
  11. Garrison, Peter (1 January 2003). "Rectangular Wings | Flying Magazine". Flyingmag.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022. Bergey closes with the following advice: "When you walk past a Cherokee or an RV or any of the thousands of general aviation aircraft with Hershey Bar wings, flash them a friendly smile. Let them know you appreciate the high cruise efficiency of their almost ideal spanwise lift distributions. And their forgiving stall characteristics."
  12. Martin, Swayne (8 July 2016). "6 Wing Designs That Every Pilot Should Recognize". boldmethod.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022. you can see how rectangular the Piper PA-23 Aztec's wing really is. There's a reason why they call it the "Hershey Bar" wing.
  13. Tom Benson; Wing Area, NASA
  14. Ilan Kroo. AA241 Aircraft Design: Synthesis and Analysis Wing Geometry Definitions, Archived 13 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine, Stanford University.
  15. G. Dimitriadis; Aircraft Design Lecture 2: Aerodynamics, Université de Liège.
  16. "Alexander de Seversky". centennialofflight.net. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  17. Potts, J.R.; Disc-wing aerodynamics, University of Manchester, 2005.
  18. letter from Hall-Warren, N.; Flight International, 1962, p. 716.
  19. "swept wing | avro vulcan | 1953 | 0030 | Flight Archive". Flightglobal.com. 5 December 1952. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  20. Diederich and Foss; Static Aeroelastic Phenomena of M-, W- and Λ- wings, NACA 1953.
  21. "Aerodynamics at Teddington", Flight: 764, 5 June 1959
  22. Ellis Katz; Edward T. Marley; William T. Pepper, NACA RM L50G31 (PDF), NACA, archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2011
  23. P180 Avanti-Specification and Description. See page 55, Appendix A: "Notes about the 3-Lifting-Surface design".
  24. Ernst-Heinrich Hirschel; Horst Prem; Gero Madelung (2004). Aeronautical research in Germany: from Lilienthal until today. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 167. ISBN 978-3-540-40645-7.
  25. Benoliel, Alexander M., Aerodynamic Pitch-up of Cranked Arrow Wings: Estimation, Trim, and Configuration Design, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, May 1994, retrieved 31 March 2012
  26. "Boeing Sonic Cruiser ousts 747X". Flightglobal.com. 3 April 2001. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  27. "WHAT IS IT? Aircraft Characteristics That Aid the Spotter Classified : A Simple Guide for Basic Features in Design the Beginner", Flight: 562, 4 June 1942
  28. "fs 29 - "TF"". Uni-stuttgart.de. 5 February 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
  29. "Plane With Expanding Wing, Flies In Tests". Popular Science. November 1932. p. 31.
  30. Lukins, A.H.; The book of Westland aircraft, Aircraft (Technical) Publications Ltd, (1943 or 1944).
  31. Hearst Magazines (January 1931). "Adjustable Airplane's Wings Are Changed In Flight". Popular Mechanics. Hearst Magazines. p. 55.
  32. Flight, August 15, 1929
  33. Boyne, W.J.; The best of Wings magazine, Brassey's (2001)
  34. Wing vortex devices

Bibliography





На других языках


- [en] Wing configuration

[fr] Configuration d'aile

Depuis les débuts de l'aviation, de nombreuses configurations d'aile ont été imaginées pour assurer la sustentation des « plus lourds que l'air », expression utilisée dès les années 1860[1]. Copiant parfois dans un premier temps celles des animaux volants, les ailes vont au début du XXe siècle adopter les dispositions que l'on connait aujourd'hui.

[ru] Конфигурация крыла самолёта

Конфигурация крыла самолета с неподвижным крылом (включая планеры) заключается в расположении подъемных и связанных с ними поверхностей.



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