When the plain "wing area" is given in basic aircraft specifications, what area does it usually refer to? Is the same area used for calculating the wing loading?
For example I have a fuller specification in front of me which gives areas for:
- Main plane with ailerons
- Main plane with ailerons and body centre section
- Aileron, total
- Tail plane
- Elevators, two
If this were being condensed to a single value for "wing area", which of these would be used? Obviously, for something with a very long root chord such as a delta-wing jet, the areas with and without centre section will be very different, also leading to very different calculated wing loadings.
Has standard practice changed over the years?