Prediction of wing group weight for preliminary design

A semi‐empirical relationship is derived for the structural weight of wings, applicable to a wide range of subsonic aircraft. The method is based on a generalized expression for the material required to resist the root bending moment due to wing lift in a specified flight condition. Appropriate factors make the result applicable to cantilever and braced wings, for passenger and general aviation aircraft and for freighters. An assessment of the accuracy, based on actual wing weights of 46 aircraft, indicates that a standard deviation of 9·64 per cent is achieved. The weight formula presented allows for the effects of variations in the main wing dimensions and operational limits of the airplane and is therefore suited to parametric design studies.