Calculate wing area from wingspan and chord for rectangular, tapered, delta or elliptical wings, or solve for span or chord from a known wing area.

Projected top-view area of the full symmetric wing; both left and right halves.

For a rectangular wing, enter its chord.

Secondary dimension unit

Wing Area Formulas

The formulas below give total projected planform area for an ideal symmetric wing, including both halves. WS is the full tip-to-tip span and RC is the centerline root chord. A semi-span input is doubled before using these equations. Rectangular area is WS * RC; elliptical area is pi * WS * RC / 4. Consistent units are required; each input unit selector converts the entered quantity.

WA = .5 × WS × RC
  • Where WA is the wing area of a triangle wing
  • WS is the wing span
  • RC is the root chord

Or, for trapezoidal wings:

WA = (RC + TC) / 2 × WS
  • Where RC is the root chord
  • TC is the tip chord
  • WS is the wingspan

Wing Area Definition

What is wing area?

Wing area is the projected planform area viewed from above. It is not the combined upper and lower skin surface area. This calculator supports ideal symmetric rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular and elliptical planforms, without fuselage cutouts or compound panels. It can reverse-solve full span or root chord for each shape, and tip chord for a trapezoidal wing. Zero tip chord is the triangular limit; a tip longer than the root is an allowed reverse taper.

Example Problem

How to calculate wing area?

The following example outlines the steps to calculate a wing area of a trapezoidal wing.

First, determine the root chord at the centerline. In this example it is 3 feet; a root chord is not necessarily the longer chord on a reverse-tapered wing.

Next, determine the tip chord. The smaller of the two chords in this case is 2 feet.

Next, determine the full tip-to-tip span: 6 feet. Equivalently, enter a 3-foot semi-span. The resulting 15 square feet is the total area of both wing halves.

Finally, calculate the wing area using the formula above:

WA = (RC + TC) / 2 * WS

WA = (3+ 2) / 2 * 6

WA = 15 ft2. Average chord = area / full span = 2.5 ft; aspect ratio = full span squared / area = 2.4. The mean aerodynamic chord length is about 2.533333 ft, which differs from average chord. MAC length alone does not locate a center of gravity or establish flightworthiness.