What is wing loading?

Wing loading is the aircraft's weight divided by its wing area. It tells you how hard the wing is working. Low wing loading means the plane flies slowly and gently; high wing loading means it must fly fast to stay airborne and lands hot.

What wing loading suits a beginner?

Trainers typically sit around 10 to 16 oz per square foot, which gives forgiving low-speed handling and gentle stalls. Sport and aerobatic models run 16 to 25, and high-speed jets or pylon racers can exceed 30 oz per square foot.

What is cubic wing loading and why does it matter?

Cubic wing loading divides weight by wing area raised to the power 1.5, which removes the effect of model size. It lets you compare a giant-scale model to a park flyer fairly. Values under 9 fly like a floater, over 13 like a fast sport model.

How is the stall-speed estimate derived?

Stall speed scales with the square root of wing loading. The tool uses a representative lift coefficient for a typical RC airfoil to turn wing loading into an approximate stall speed in miles per hour. Treat it as a relative guide, not a precise figure.

Why use average chord for a tapered wing?

Wing area equals span times mean chord. For a straight-tapered wing the mean chord is simply the average of the root and tip chords, so entering that average gives the correct area. For complex planforms, measure the actual area instead.

RC Aircraft Wing Loading Calculator

Wing loading is the single number that best predicts how an RC plane will feel in the air: floaty and forgiving, or fast and demanding. This calculator turns three easy measurements into wing loading, the size-independent cubic loading index, and a rough stall-speed estimate.

How it works

Wing area is span times mean chord, and loading is weight over that area:

area (sq ft) = (span_in × chord_in) / 144
loading      = weight_oz / area_sqft           (oz / sq ft)
cubic load   = weight_oz / area_sqft^1.5        (size-independent index)
stall ~ k × sqrt(loading)                       (k from a typical Cl_max)

Cubic wing loading is the fairer cross-size comparison because dividing by area to the 1.5 power cancels the way larger models naturally carry more weight per unit area while still flying gently.

Example and tips

A 48-inch span, 9-inch chord sport model weighing 48 oz has 3 square feet of wing and a loading of 16 oz per square foot — solidly in sport territory. To soften a plane that lands too fast, add wing area, lighten the airframe, or fly a larger prop for more thrust on approach. Always weigh the model ready to fly, batteries and all, because that is the weight the wing must actually support.