Журнал аэронавтики и аэрокосмической техники
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Effects of Cubic Wing Loading Parameter on Airplane Wing Sizing and Parasitic Drag

Durmus S

This study is about the applicability of cubic wing loading (CWL) in conceptual aircraft design and flight performance. Cubic wing loading is a dimensionless parameter and is related to the square cube law. Cubic wing loading, or volumetric wing loading, offers a size-independent density factor for comparative study of aircraft made of similar building materials. CWL, density factor, is naturally depends on aircraft building materials. Also, CWL is concerned with the ratio of fuselage to wing size in aircraft because wings and fuselage have different stiffness and density values. Considering the aircraft mass as a whole, the density values of large wing aircraft are lower than those of small wing aircraft. Cubic wing loading is more applicable for initial wing sizing than wing loading. The aspect ratio is a dimensionless wing shape parameter and CWL is a dimensionless density factor. Thus, the AR-CWL graph can be used for the comparative study of aircraft. Also, CWL is a measure of relative wetted area i.e., wetted area over wing area. Low CWL means the aircraft need less power-to-weight ratio (better fuel economy) because high relative wetted area means high parasitic drag.