Editing Wing loading (section)

===Effect on stability===
Wing loading also affects ''gust response'', the degree to which the aircraft is affected by turbulence and variations in air density. A small wing has less area on which a gust can act, both of which serve to smooth the ride. For high-speed, low-level flight (such as a fast low-level bombing run in an [[attack aircraft]]), a small, thin, highly loaded wing is preferable: aircraft with a low wing loading are often subject to a rough, punishing ride in this flight regime. The [[F-15E Strike Eagle]] has a wing loading of {{cvt|650|kg/m2}} (excluding fuselage contributions to the effective area), whereas most [[delta-wing]] aircraft (such as the [[Dassault Mirage&nbsp;III]], for which ''W''<sub>S</sub> = 387&nbsp;kg/m<sup>2</sup>) tend to have large wings and low wing loadings.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

Quantitatively, if a gust produces an upward pressure of ''G'' (in N/m<sup>2</sup>, say) on an aircraft of mass ''M'', the upward acceleration ''a'' will, by [[Newton's second law]] be given by
<math display="block">
 a = \frac{GA}{M} = \frac{G}{W_S},
</math>
decreasing with wing loading.