mean chord

mean chord

[′mēn ′kȯrd]

(aerospace engineering)

That chord of an airfoil that is equal to the sum of all the airfoil's chord lengths divided by the number of chord lengths; equivalently, that chord whose length is equal to the area of the airfoil section divided by the span.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

mean chord

The mean geometric chord location is the same for two extreme positions of the root chord.

i. The chord of an imaginary wing of a constant section having the same force vectors under all conditions as those of the actual wing. That chord of an airfoil is equal to the sum of all the airfoil's chord lengths divided by the number of chord lengths. Equivalently, it is that chord whose length is equal to the area of the airfoil section divided by the span.
ii. Sometimes wrongly referred to as a mean aerodynamic chord.

An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved