ORIGINAL: Ed Smith
Chord is simply the distance from the leading edge of the wing to the trailing edge of the wing.
Believe me I do not wish to start an argument here. One has to be a little more specific. As stated before it is the distance from the LE to the TE, BUT parallel to the wing centre line (direction of flight) Think of a tapered wing. Would the distance be at 90deg to the leading edge or the trailing edge, there is a difference.
Ed S
Yes, I understand all of that. But he asked a simple question and I gave the simple answer. I doubt he intended for an extensive discussion of chord vs. wing types. He wanted to know what chord was in respect to an airplane and I gave him the answer to that question. Now if he wants to expand that out to a discussion of aerodynamics then expanding the answer out to what you mentioned would certianly be appropriate.
Ken