Which wing component bears the highest bending loads in flight and during landing?

• A. Wing tip.
• B. Fuselage.
• C. The wing root bears the highest bending loads in flight and during landing.
• D. Nacelle.

Answer: (C)

The wing root is where the wing is fixed to the fuselage, so it has to resist the bending moment created by the lift distributed along the entire wing. In a cantilever wing, the bending moment at a cross-section depends on the loads outside that section. At the root, all the lift across the wing produces a moment, so the root experiences the largest bending. The tip, by contrast, has loads acting over a shorter lever arm, so the moment there is smaller. During landing, additional vertical loads from touchdown and gusts travel through the wing and are transmitted through the root to the fuselage, increasing the bending moment there even more. The fuselage, nacelles, or wing tip don’t carry the peak bending moment in the wing structure; the root bears it.