concept

Wing loading

The weight of a flying animal (or an aircraft) divided by the area of the wing that lifts it. Because mass grows with the cube of size while wing area grows only with the square, wing loading must rise as an animal gets bigger - and the higher the wing loading, the faster the minimum speed needed to generate enough lift. This is why giant flyers must rush forward quickly just to take off. The 1.5-ton figure community wikis attach to the ikran would produce an impossible wing loading; a far lighter mass, around 200-250 kg, is what fits a 14-metre wingspan flying in Pandora's dense air.