| Whitewings Variety | ||
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| Main Wing Type Main wings can be broadly categorized according to their shape. We'll start with the Standard Wing Type (also called "straight wings"). Standard wings are plain, garden-variety airfoils that extend perpendicular to the fuselage. The leading edge and trailing edge are more-or-less parallel. Some wings may show slight angle variations -- slanting forwards or backwards -- but we still consider these to be "Standard". Planes of this group make up an overwhelming majority, covering nearly all of the planes in the Racer and Sport Plane categories. Next, we have the ever-popular Delta Wing Type. Commonly found among Profile Planes, Delta craft come equipped with a giant, one-piece, triangular wing structure that shows no noticeable separation between the main wings and the horizontal stabilizer. The leading edge and trailing edge typically form an angle of about 60°. Examples of Delta-Type planes include the B-2 Stealth, the Clean SST and the Space Shuttle. In addition to types modeled after real aircraft, we also find wings of a more peculiar variety. The Ring Wing Canard creates lift with a single ring-shaped airfoil situated to the rear of its horizontal stabilizer. Equally peculiar are the Circular Wing Canard and the Oblique Wing Plane, which feature circular and elliptical main wings respectively. Last but not least, we even find oddities like the Tailless Plane whose main wings not only provide lift but also serve as anchor points for the plane's vertical stabilizers. (It's worth mentioning that the strangest and most interesting of Whitewings designs can be found in the AG1503 Future of Flight 15-Model Kit, available at your local retailer or online at the Whitewings Online Store.) |
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| Main Wing Position (Horizontal) | ||
| Once you have identified the main wing type, you can easily determine main wing position. Main wings are situated in one of two horizontal positions: in front of the horizontal stabilizer or behind it. Planes with main wings in the posterior position (also called Canards) are far less common than their forward-reaching counterparts. Examples include the Canard, the Tri Canard and the Circular Canard. |
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| Main Wing Position (Vertical) | ||
| Main wing position also varies along the vertical axis. Most familiar are the high-wing variety whose wings attach on the top side of the fuselage. Commonly found among the light planes are the low- and mid-wing varieties whose wings attach at the bottom or through the center of the fuselage, respectively. | ||
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| Main Wing Tip Shape | ||
| Wing tips also come in two varieties: round and square. Square tips seem to be more common than round tips, which are mostly found among the Racers. | ||
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| Main Wing Tip Angle | ||
| While most wing tips are straight, others come complete with their own dihedral angles. Typically found among the Racers, planes with angled wing tips perform especially well under gusty conditions. Examples include the Racer 540 Crane and Racer 539 Hawk. | ||
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| Number of Main Wings | ||
| Just when you thought the classification of main wings couldn't get any more complicated, someone thought up gliders with multiple wings. Examples include the Bi-Plane whose two main wings are positioned one on top of the other and the Multi-Tandem Plane whose four main wings and one horizontal stabilizer line up along the length of the fuselage in one long row. |
