Hey,

Just calculating the wing area on a low wing aircraft. Do you include the wing area that goes underneath the fuselage???

Cheers

Pretty sure you do. And the aeilerons, but you knew that.

Nope, just from the root to the tip, same as for a high wing. The part under the fuse or over the fuse doesn't contribute lift, so it isn't included in wing area or wing loading calcs.

Yes it is counted and yes the fuselage produces lift since it turns a flow of air, the same way a flat foam wing does

http://airfieldmodels.com/informatio..._wing_area.htm
http://webpages.charter.net/rcfu/HelpsHints/WACalc.html
http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/factors.html

The convention is to measure wing area (including flaps/ailerons) as though the wing was off the plane so it also includes the area taken up by the fuselage. It's a silly idea really but it's the standard everyone uses to get some comparison between models and even to calculate wing loadings. Some argue that it's done because the fuselage itself can develop some lift.

I stand corrected. I know the fuse does develop some lift, just felt it was not significant since the airfoil shape is not contiguous through the fuse.

I think DownUnder is right. For most models, the fuselage over the wing isn't going to create as much lift as the wing, but the only way to compare one model to another is by having a standard. So if you count the wing area that isn't creating lift on every model then the comparison will tell you something once you have flown a few models and have an idea of what any give wing loading will do.

When you calculate wing area, it is wing tip to wing tip.
The fuselage is counted in the calculation.
While this may not be what we want to hear, this is how Wing area is calculated.
I have measured a couple of planes and that is the only way that the published wing area could be derived.
Don't believe us, grab a plane and do it yourself.