Aerodynamic Data Base, Wings Aspect-Ratios

Wing Aspect-Ratios

Summary

Aspect ratios of Fighter Wings
Aspect ratios of Subsonic Aircraft
Aspect ratios of Misc. Aircraft
Aspect ratios of Supersonic Aircraft
Aspect ratios of Other Systems
Aspect ratios of Birds Wings

Some aspect ratios provided in Table 2 below have been computed by using known data for the wing area and the total span: AR=b²/S (geometrical aspect-ratio). This is different from the structural aspect-ratio.

**Table 1: AR of Supersonic Fighter Wings**
Aircraft	AR	M
US F-15 (McDonnell-Douglas)	3.0	2.5
US F-18 (McDonnel-Douglas)	3.5	1.8
Dassault Mirage 2000	2.0	2.2
Dassault Rafale MO2	2.6	2.0
Sukhoi Su-27	3.5	2.3
Mapo Mig-29	3.4	2.3

**Table 2: AR of Commercial Airplanes**
Aircraft	AR	M
Airbus A-310	8.8	0.80
Boeing 727	6.9	0.81
Boeing 737	8.8	0.76
Boeing 747-100	7.0	0.82
Boeing 747-400	8.0	0.83
Douglas DC-3	9.1	0.24
Douglas DC-9	8.6	0.80
Douglas DC-10	6.2	0.80
Airbus A300b	7.7	0.80
Iliushin IL-62	6.7	–
Tupolev Tu-154	7.0	–
Fokker 100	8.3	0.76
Fokker 50	12.0	0.46
Fokker 28	7.9	0.45

**Table 3: AR of Misc. Airplanes**
Aircraft	AR	M
Boeing B-17 (bomber)	7.58	–
Consolidated B-24 (bomber)	11.54	0.24

**Table 4: AR of Supersonic Airplanes**
Aircraft	AR	M
Concorde	1.85	2.05
Tupolev Tu-144	1.89	2.08

**Table 5: Miscellanea**
System	AR
Racing Cars	< 3
Hang Glider	7
Ultralight airplane	7
Sailplanes (standard)	20 – 21
Solar Powered Centurion	26

**Table 6: Aspect-Ratios of Some Birds**
Bird	AR
Albatross (diomeda exulans)	19-20
Common Tern (sterna hirundo)	12
Herring Gull (larus argentatus)	10
White Stork (ciconia alba)	8
Gannet (sula bassana)	6.3

Related material

Selected References

Jane’s: All the World’s Aircraft, 1997-98, edited by P. Jackson, 1997 (ISBN 0 7106 1540 X).
Munson K, Airliners from 1919 to the Present Day, Peerage Press, London, 1983.
Tennekes H, The Simple Science of Flight, The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1992.

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