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Revision as of 17:43, 26 July 2007
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/Aer.lingus.a320-200.ei-cva.planform.arp.jpg/250px-Aer.lingus.a320-200.ei-cva.planform.arp.jpg)
The wingspan (or just span) of an airplane is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about 60 m (200 feet).
The term wingspan, more technically extent, is also used for birds, and other winged animals such as pterosaurs, bats, insects, etc. For example, a Wandering Albatross (Diomedea exulans) caught in 1965 had a wingspan of 3.63 m, the official record for a living bird.
Wingspan of aircraft
The wingspan of an aircraft is always measured in a straight line, from wingtip to wingtip, independently of wing shape or sweep.
Implications for aircraft design
Planes with a longer wingspan are generally more efficient because they suffer less induced drag and their wingtip vortices do not affect the wing as much. However, the long wings mean that the plane has a greater moment of inertia about its longitudinal axis and therefore cannot roll as quickly and is less maneuverable. Thus, combat aircraft and aerobatic planes usually opt for shorter wingspans to increase maneuverability.
Since the amount of lift that a wing generates is proportional to the area of the wing, planes with short wings must correspondingly have a longer chord. An aircraft's ratio of its wingspan to chord is therefore very important in determining its characteristics, and aerospace engineers call this value the aspect ratio of a wing.
Wingspan of flying animals
To measure the wingspan of a bird, a live or freshly dead specimen is placed flat on its back, the wings are grasped at the wrist joints, and the distance is measured between the tips of the longest primary feathers on each wing.
Wingspan in sports
In basketball, a fingertip to fingertip measurement is used to determine what is known as a player's wingspan. This is also called reach in boxing terminology.
Wingspan records
Largest wingspan
- Aircraft: Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose" - 97.54m [1]
- Bat: Flying fox - 2m [2]
- Bird: Wandering albatross - 3.63m
- Bird (extinct): Giant Teratorn - 8.3 m
- Reptile: Quetzalcoatlus pterosaur - 15m(18m?) [3]
- Insect: White Witch moth - 280mm [4]
Smallest wingspan
- Bat: Bumblebee bat - 16cm [5]
- Bird: Bee hummingbird - 6.5cm
- Insect: Tanzanian parasitic wasp - 0.2mm
References
- ^ "Spruce Goose". Evergreen Aviation Museum. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
- ^ "Bats". Sea World. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
- ^ "Flying dinosaur biggest airborne animal". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
- ^ "Largest Lepidopteran Wing Span". University of Florida Book of Insect Records. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
- ^ "Bats". Sea World. Retrieved 2007-06-23.
Wingspan Community Center
[1] Wingspan is Southern Arizona's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Community Center. Wingspan is nearly 20 years old, and provides a range of social services and well as community activities. Wingspan is one of the ten largest LGBT Community Centers in the United States.