This study presents an experimental and numerical study of flow and heat transfer characteristics of a cross flow heat exchanger employing staggered wing shaped tubes with zero angle of attack. Hot air was forced to flow over the external surface of the tubes and exchange heat with the cold water flowing inside. The water side Rew was varied from 5×102 to 1×103and the air side Rea was varied from 1.85×103 to 9.7×103. Correlations of Nua, Sta, Pdc, as well as the heat transfer per unit pumping power ɛ against Rea and design parameters are presented. Comparing with other different shapes from literature it is concluded that enhancement in the heat transfer of 34 % and reduction in the pressure drop of 37 % are achieved by utilizing the wing-shaped tubes as relative to the circular ones. The heat transfer coefficient, effectiveness, and efficiency index for bundles of circular, elliptical and wing-shaped tubes were compared. The results indicate that, the bundle of wing-shaped tubes has better performance over other bundles for similar parameters and conditions.