Increasing the wing area also positively influences the drag and the weight. Tapering the wing also affects the wing weight. It is defined as the wing span squared over the wing area. 2.0 - 20.0 Sweep Angle Sweep is the angle that the leading edge of the wing varies from a straight wing. Sweeping the wing delays the drag associated with transonic flight and thus allows the aircraft to fly faster without a large drag penalty.
Wing sweep adds structural weight.
The airfoil can be represented as a stream-wise vertical wing slice. However thin wings generally do not produce as much lift as thicker wings. Thin wings also limit fuel tank volume. Thicker wings generally require simpler structures and thus benefit from a savings in weight. The horizontal and vertical tails are used to give the aircraft stability during flight.