Simply put, wing loading is a calculation derived by dividing the weight of the aircraft by the area of the wing. It is used in aircraft design to determine a number of predicted performance characteristics such as take off speeds, climb ability, turn performance, etc. Generally, the lower the wing loading, the better the overall performance. However, there are some instances in which high wing loading produces more desirable performance characteristics for specific applications, such as military tactical maneuvering. The F-104 is a good example of the application of high wing loading.

Wing Loading is the details of the distribution of pressure on an aircraft wing. An aircraft flys by producing Lift by its wings. This lift force depends on the shape of the wing that produces high pressure on the bottom of the wing and low pressure on the top. The center of the lift is usually at the 1/4 chord or 25% of the width of the wing as measure from the leading edge. The Wing Loading can be designed to produce different Lift and ensure the aircraft will be easy to trim for level flight.

Paper airplanes can serve as testbeds for all sorts of experiments, such as those into glide ratio, wing shape efficency, and wing loading to name a few.

It is impossible to solve this as the weight of the aircraft and/or airfoil are not specified. The equation for finding wing loading in simple is "((x * 2304) / y) / 16" Where 'x' equals the total aircraft weight (in pounds) and 'y' equals the wing surface area (in square inches) BE SURE TO FIND THE TOTAL SURFACE AREA FOR ONE SIDE OF ALL WINGS COMBINED BEFORE CALCULATION. So to answer your question, lets suppose the aircraft weight is 25,000 lbs. Our equation would look like... ((25000 * 2304) / 19,728) / 16 I will explain exactly what I did to determine the above eqation... 25,000 * 2304 = 57,600,000 (This is the first step, multiplying weight by 2304) 62 * 2.21 = 137 (We must convert 62 square metres to square feet) 137 * 144 = 19,728 (There are 144 square inches in a square foot) 57,600,000 / 19,728 = 2,919.71 (This is the wing loading in ounces per square foot) 2,919,71 / 16 = 182.48 (There are 16 ounces in a pound) Wing Loading: 182.48 pounds per square foot As you may have noticed, wing thickness is irrelevant. All that matters is the surface area of one side of the wing(s). Be sure to calculate the total surface area of all lift surfaces (i.e. wings, elevators/canards, etc.) and add them to your total surface area before total calculation. I hope this has educated you on wing loading!

H. P. Fraser has written:

'High wing loading and some of its problems from the pilot's point of view'