Aircraft Trivia: The position of an airplane's wings has meaning, of course.
What are "high wing," "medium wing," and "low wing" indicating wing attachment position?
When you board an airplane and sit in a seat near the center of the cabin, you can see the main wings below the window; however, there are actually various ways to attach the main wings, depending on the airplane's performance and purpose.
Generally, the wing attachment positions are classified according to their upper and lower positions, such as "high wing," "middle wing," "low wing," and so on.
In the case of passenger aircraft, the majority are low-wing aircraft, i.e.
The main wings are attached to the lower part of the fuselage, and the wings are visible below the windows.
On the other hand, most transport aircraft are high-wing aircraft, meaning that the main wings are attached to the lower part of the fuselage.
The typical medium-winged aircraft with its main wings attached in the middle of the fuselage is a fighter plane.
Aircraft with two wings above and below the fuselage, as in old airplanes, are called "biplanes".
Other types include "parasol," in which the wings above the fuselage are supported by struts attached to the fuselage, and "all-wing," in which the entire fuselage is covered by wings, as in stealth fighter planes.
Both low-wing and high-wing have their advantages and disadvantages, but the low-wing has the advantage that the engine noise does not echo into the cabin and the aircraft floats easily in the event of an accidental water landing.
On the other hand, the high wing has the advantage of stabilizing the heavy fuselage for flight and is convenient for loading and unloading cargo, but the engine noise from the wings echoes in the cabin.
Low-wing aircraft are easier to maintain, but when taking off and landing on less cleared runways, high-wing aircraft with the wings higher off the ground are more suitable.
For this reason, low-wing aircraft have become popular for passenger planes, while high-wing aircraft are used for military transport planes and special transport planes that carry huge cargo.
