The wing root is the part of the wing on a

fixed-wing aircraft A fixed-wing aircraft is a heavier-than-air aircraft, such as an airplane, which is capable of flight using aerodynamic lift. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft (in which a rotor mounted on a spinning shaft generate ...

or winged-spaceship that is closest to the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

,Peppler, I.L.: ''From The Ground Up'', page 9. Aviation Publishers Co. Limited, Ottawa Ontario, Twenty Seventh Revised Edition, 1996. and is the junction of the wing with the fuselage (not with a nacelle or any other body). The term is also used for the junction of the wing with the opposite wing, ie on the fuselage centerline, as with the upper wing of a biplane. The opposite end of a wing from the wing root is the wing tip. The aerodynamic properties of the overall aircraft can be greatly impacted by the shaping and other design choices of the wing root. During both normal flight and landings, the wing root of an aircraft would be typically subjected to the highest bending forces through the aircraft. As a means of reducing interference drag between the wing and the fuselage, the use of fairings (often referred to as "wing fillets") became commonplace during the first half of the twentieth century; the use of wing root fairings has been credited with achieving more favourable flight characteristics at both high and low speeds. Furthermore, various other innovations and approaches have been developed to influence/control airflow in the vicinity of the wing root to achieve more favourable performance. Various calculating methods for designed an optimal wing root of an aircraft have been devised. Fatigue has been recognised as a critical life-limiting factor associated with the wing root, which will eventually lead to catastrophic failure if not monitored. Accordingly, it is commonplace within an aircraft's maintenance regime to mandate periodic assessments of the wing root to check for fatigue cracking and other signs of strain. For this purpose, the use of appropriately-applied

strain gauge A strain gauge (also spelled strain gage) is a device used to measure Deformation (mechanics)#Strain, strain on an object. Invented by Edward E. Simmons and Arthur C. Ruge in 1938, the most common type of strain gauge consists of an Electrical in ...

s has become widespread, although alternative methods of detection have also been used. In the case of

hypersonic In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds five times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since i ...

aircraft, the wing root is judged to be a critical structural areas in terms of its heat migration and dissipation properties.

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* {{Aircraft components Aircraft wing components

See also

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External links