9 Basic Types of Aircraft Wings That Most of You Don’t Know

The major component of an airplane is the center body called as fuselage, The wings, Vertical and Horizontal tails, etc,

In these wings are lifted generating components of the aircraft.

Airplane deals with four forces, the upward force call lift, the downward force called weight and forward force thrust, and the backward drag.

In a fixed-wing aircraft, wings can be classified on the basis of its use in the aircraft some aircraft need to reduce drag and some of them need short takeoff, stability, etc.

These different types of design parameters give birth to different types of aircraft wings.

Aircraft wings can be classified on the basis of its shape, its position in the fuselage, wing sweep, Aspect ratio, etc.

Types of aircraft wing based on its position on aircraft are Low wing, Mid wing, Shoulder wing, High wing, and Parasol wing.

These wing configurations are used in monoplanes with have easy to design and highly efficient.

#1 Low Wing

A low wing in a monoplane is located on the bottom of the fuselage. A low ing configuration gives the ability of maneuverability than other types. It very uses full in aircraft which requires short takeoff.

#2 Mid Wing 

A mid-wing is mounted in the middle of the fuselage. In this configuration, the fuselage volume will be less than other types of aircraft wing due to the carry-through spar structure.

#3 Shoulder Wing

Wings fixed on the shoulder position of the aircraft fuselage is called a shoulder wing. This type of aircraft wing is categorized in between high and mid-wing. The shoulder wing reduces float on landing and in smaller aircraft it gives more visibility to the pilot.

#4 High Wing 

High wings are similar to shoulder wing in this the wing is fixed on the top of the fuselage. It shares some of the merits and demerits with the shoulder wing. This type of wing can be seen in smaller aircraft like Cessna 152.

#5 Swept Wing and Some Variable Geometry Wings

A swept wing is another type of aircraft wing which is slanted either backward or forward from the fuselage. This wing sweep will reduce drag in the wing. Swept wings are used in high-speed aircraft.

A swept wing is widely used in fighter aircraft like MiG-15 and F-86 Sabre. There are different types of swept wings like swept forward and backward, Variable sweep wings, Oblique wing, and the delta wing is also considered as a kind of swept-wing aircraft.

#6 Swept Backward and Forward

Swept forward and backward are mostly the same kind of aerodynamic characteristics but it is different in structural characteristics such as more usable space in the fuselage.

#7 Variable Swept Wings

Variable swept wing or swing wings are the type of aircraft wing which allows getting merits of both swept and unswept wings.

Swept wings are usually suitable for high-speed performances but it is not a good performer during taking off and landing and the unswept wing is suitable for carrying heavy payloads and fuels.

So in this type of aircraft wing, the pilot can choose a suitable configuration during flight.

#8 Delta Wing

This type of aircraft wing is triangular shaped, it is mainly used in fighter aircraft. This also a high-speed wing it is mainly used in highspeed subsonic and supersonic aircraft.
Delta wing aircraft are stronger and lightweight than normal swept-wing aircraft. MIG 21, Dassault Mirage, and Sukhoi aircraft are examples of delta-wing aircraft.

#9 Oblique Wing

The oblique wing is another type of variable aircraft wing. The wing is able to rotate on a pivot, the drag can be reduced by rotating the wing and changing the swept angle. By changing the swept angle drag at high speed can be reduced.