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Wing Loading Calculator

Enter the total weight and wing area to get the wing loading.

How it is calculated

Wing loading is a single division: wing loading = W ÷ S, where W is the total weight of the aircraft and S is the wing area. The tool has no unit selector and does no conversion; the answer is in whatever unit pair you typed, so kilograms and square metres give kg/m², and pounds and square feet give lb/ft². Use the same pair every time if you want to compare designs. The result is shown with two decimals. A weight of zero returns 0.00, while a negative weight, or a wing area of zero or less, returns no result. Use the all-up weight you actually intend to fly at, including fuel, payload or battery.

Worked example

Take an aircraft with a total weight of 1200 kg and a wing area of 16 m². Divide the weight by the area: 1200 ÷ 16 = 75. The tool shows 75.00, meaning each square metre of wing carries 75 kg. The same arithmetic works for a small drone: 2.5 kg on 0.45 m² of wing gives 5.56 kg/m². Run the number again with a heavier payload to see how the loading rises while the wing stays the same.

Try this example →

Common mistakes

  • Mixing unit systems, such as kilograms with square feet. The tool divides blindly, so the result then belongs to no standard unit.
  • Using empty weight instead of total weight. Wing loading is about the weight the wing actually has to lift, so include fuel, payload, passengers or batteries.
  • Entering the wingspan or chord in the area field. The field wants total wing area, roughly span times mean chord for a simple rectangular wing.
  • Entering area in square centimetres for a model while the weight is in kilograms, or the reverse. Convert to one consistent pair first.
  • Comparing results across units. 75 kg/m² and 75 lb/ft² are very different loadings, so note which pair produced the figure.

About this calculator

Wing loading is a core figure in aircraft and drone design, calculated simply as total weight ÷ wing area. It measures how much lift each unit of wing surface has to generate to keep the aircraft airborne, and it drives a chain of downstream handling characteristics.

A low wing loading means large wings relative to weight — the aircraft can fly and land slowly, stalls at low speed, and turns tightly, but gets tossed around more by turbulence and gusts (typical of gliders and trainers). A high wing loading means small wings for the weight carried — faster stall and landing speeds and less agility, but a smoother, more stable ride at speed (typical of fighter jets and high-speed racers). Designers of both full-scale aircraft and model/drone airframes use this ratio to predict how a design will actually fly before it's built.

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Comments (1)

  • Editorial team

    Wing loading is best read against aircraft of the same type, not in isolation. Stall speed grows with the square root of loading at the same lift coefficient and air density, so doubling the loading raises the stall speed by about 41 percent, and landings get faster. The default 1200 over 16 gives 75.00 in whatever units you typed. Which type of aircraft or model are you comparing?

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