Astore wing loading

[montanapilot]

I went flying today, and it was quite the wild ride, with the VSI pegged at times both positive and negative - the VSI pegs at 1,000 fpm up and down. So, for the heck of it, I decided to see how the Astore's wing loading compares to some other airplanes I've owned or flown, using gross weights. There are other factors that determine how an airplane will react in turbulence, but wind loading is the most determinative. All numbers are taken from Wikipedia. Here they are:

Astore    10.08 lbs/sq.ft.

Cessna 172    14.08

Cessna 152    10.43

J-3 Cub    6.85

I was particularly interested to see what my Bonanza's wing loading was, since it gave such a nice ride in turbulence. No wonder. It's 18.7 lbs./sf.

So, in terms of wing loading only, our airplanes should react in turbulence in about the same way as the airplane that most of us probably learned on - the Cessna 152.    

[chilla]

Wing load is the most important determinant of felt turbulence. However, wing flexing helps soften the impact. The Flight Design CTLS has very stiff wings and hence more felt turbulence than the P2008 which has aluminum wings that flex more even though they have the same wing loading.

[jetcat3]

Not just wing loading, but the design of the airfoil I believe contributes as well. Laminar flow vs high lift for example. Also, the design of the aircraft makes a huge difference as the SportCruiser is drastically different in turbulence versus the P2008.

[montanapilot]

You are correct that there are other contributors to reaction to turbulence, including design of the airfoil, dihedral, etc. However, wing loading is far and above the primary factor. None of us like the fact that our Astores (and maybe the 2008's, I'm just not that familiar with them) are such heavy airplanes, but that does have its advantages.