Here are 6 characteristics of aircraft wings. (This is only six – there are many more ways to compare wings.)
Sweep – the F-14 here has wings with variable sweep. Angle of sweep is measured between the wing and the aircraft centerline (with many variations of this definition depending on the type of wing).
Camber describes the shape of the top and bottom of the airfoil in relation to the chord line as seen here on the Carbon Cub.
Chord is an imaginary straight line from the leading edge to the trailing edge. Here you can see the airfoil shape on the C-17 wing, where the top is “flatter,” and the bottom is “fatter” and imagine a straight line from the leading to trailing edge.
Long slender wings have a high Aspect Ratio, a comparison of chord length and planform area of the wing.
The Airfoil is essentially an imaginary cross section of a portion of the wing. The F-18 has a very long and slender airfoil.
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