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Aspect ratio (aeronautics) An ASH 31 glider with very high aspect ratio (AR=33.5) and lift-to-drag ratio (L/D=56) In aeronautics, the aspect ratio of a wing is the ratio of its span to its mean chord. It is equal to the square of the wingspan divided by the wing area. Thus, a long, narrow wing has a high aspect ratio, whereas a short, wide wing ...
The ratio of the length (or span) of a rectangular-planform wing to its chord is known as the aspect ratio, an important indicator of the lift-induced drag the wing will create. [7] (For wings with planforms that are not rectangular, the aspect ratio is calculated as the square of the span divided by the wing planform area.)
Effect on performance. Wing loading is a useful measure of the stalling speed of an aircraft. Wings generate lift owing to the motion of air around the wing. Larger wings move more air, so an aircraft with a large wing area relative to its mass (i.e., low wing loading) will have a lower stalling speed.
The aspect ratio is the width of the airfoil divided by its chord. If the wing is not rectangular, aspect ratio is written AR=b 2 /s, where AR=aspect ratio, b=span, and s=wing area. Also, a greater angle of attack (or tilt) of the wing or spoiler, creates more downforce, which puts more pressure on the rear wheels and creates more drag.
For a given wing area, a high aspect ratio wing will produce less induced drag than a wing of low aspect ratio. [16] While induced drag is inversely proportional to the square of the wingspan, not necessarily inversely proportional to aspect ratio, if the wing area is held constant, then induced drag will be inversely proportional to aspect ...
Wing configuration. 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 wing configuration of a fixed-wing aircraft (including both gliders and powered aeroplanes) is its arrangement of lifting and related surfaces.
The ratio of the length of a nose cone compared to its base diameter is known as the fineness ratio. This is sometimes also called the aspect ratio, though that term is usually applied to wings and tails. Fineness ratio is often applied to the entire vehicle, considering the overall length and diameter.
The natural outcome of this requirement is a wing design that is thin and wide, which has a low thickness-to-chord ratio. At lower speeds, undesirable parasitic drag is largely a function of the total surface area, which suggests using a wing with minimum chord, leading to the high aspect ratios seen on light aircraft and regional airliners ...