Surface that generates the lift needed for flight; on airliners it usually also holds much of the fuel and carries the engines.
What it is
A wing produces lift because its shape and angle of attack deflect the surrounding air downwards, leaving lower pressure on the upper surface than on the lower one. That pressure difference, spread across the whole wing, holds the aircraft up, and it grows with airspeed and with wing size.
The wing is also a major structural component. Much of the fuel is usually carried inside it, the engines hang beneath it on most jet airliners, its edges carry the flaps, slats and ailerons, and the spoilers sit on its upper surface. Its key dimensions are span, wing area and sweep angle.
The Airbus A380 has one of the largest wings in civil aviation, spanning nearly 80 metres with an area of more than 800 square metres.
Related terms
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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Wing. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/wing
MLA
“Wing.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/wing. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Wing.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/wing.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Wing. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/wing (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_wing,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Wing}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-09},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/wing},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/wing}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/wing |title=Wing |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}