Enter the wingspan and the chord into the calculator to determine the total wing area. If calculating a tapered wing, the root chord and tip chord will be required.

Wing Area Formulas

The following two formulas are used to calculate the wing areas of a triangle and tapered (trapezoidal) wings. 

WA = .5 * WS * RC
  • Where WA is the wing area of a triangle wing
  • WS is the wing span
  • RC is the roots 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?

A wing area, also known as wing surface area, is defined as the total 2-dimensional space taken up by a wing shape. These shapes are most commonly triangle or trapezoidal shapes, but can also be by rectangular, or irregular shapes.

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. This should be the longer of the two chords and in this case is 3 feet.

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

Next, determine the wing span. The length of the wing is measured to be 6 feet.

Finally, calculate the wing area using the formula above:

WA = (RC + TC) / 2 * WS

WA = (3+ 2) / 2 * 6

WA = 15 ft^2