Wing Loading Calculator

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Choose a known aircraft to auto-fill weight and wing area, or pick Custom to enter your own.
Maximum take-off weight (or ready-to-fly weight for models). This is the gross weight the wings must support.
kg
Projected planform area of all wings combined. For biplanes, sum the area of all lifting surfaces.
m²
Maximum lift coefficient at stall. Typical clean wings: 1.2-1.6. With full flaps: 2.0-2.8. Use 1.5 if unknown.
Bank angle used to compute minimum level-flight turn radius. Standard traffic pattern: 30 deg. Aerobatic: 60+ deg.
deg
Wing loadingVery light / Glider
4.33

Weight per unit of wing area - the key aerodynamic efficiency figure

Wing loading unitkg/m²
Wing cube loading (WCL)1.077
WCL unitkg/m^1.5
Stall speed (no flaps)24.5
Stall speed unitkm/h
Minimum turn radius8.2
Turn radius unitm
Load factor (n)1.15
WCL handling categoryFloater / Trainer
4.33 kg/m²
Glider / Ultralight<50Light aircraft50-150Airliner150-300High-perf jet300-500Fighter500+

Wing loading of 4.33 kg/m² - a very lightly loaded aircraft, typical of gliders and ultralights.

  • At sea-level ISA conditions the stall speed (no flaps) is about 24.5 km/h.
  • At 30 deg bank the minimum level-flight turn radius is about 8 m, with a load factor of 1.15 g.
  • Wing cube loading class: "Floater / Trainer". Very docile, slow stall, easy to fly in calm conditions.
  • Higher wing loading means faster stall and landing speeds but better penetration in turbulence. Lower wing loading gives slower, more docile handling but worse gust penetration.

Next stepTo reduce wing loading, increase wing area or reduce aircraft weight. For RC models, a WCL below 9 oz/ft^1.5 is generally considered easy to fly.

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