Wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a
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 and animal evolution
The lift from wings is proportional to their area, so the heavier the animal or aircraft the bigger that area must be. The area is the product of the span times the width (
The highest aspect ratio man-made wings are aircraft propellers, in their most extreme form as helicopter rotors.
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
The wingspan of an insect refers to the wingspan of pinned specimens, and may refer to the distance between the centre of the thorax to the apex of the wing doubled or to the width between the
Wingspan in sports
In
Wingspan records
Largest wingspan
- Aircraft (current): Scaled Composites Stratolaunch — 117 m (385 ft) [6]
- Bat: Large flying fox – 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)[7]
- Bird: Wandering albatross – 3.63 m (11 ft 11 in)[8]
- Bird (extinct): Argentavis – Estimated 7 m (23 ft 0 in)[9]
- Reptile (extinct): Quetzalcoatlus pterosaur – 10–11 m (33–36 ft)[10]
- Insect: White witch moth – 28 cm (11.0 in)[11]
- Insect (extinct): Meganeuropsis (relative of dragonflies) – estimated up to 71 cm (28.0 in)[12]
Smallest wingspan
- Aircraft (biplane): Starr Bumble Bee II – 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[13]
- Aircraft (jet): Bede BD-5 – 4.27 m (14 ft 0 in)[citation needed]
- Aircraft (twin engine): Colomban Cri-cri – 4.9 m (16 ft 1 in)
- Bat: Bumblebee bat – 16 cm (6.3 in)[7]
- Bird: Bee hummingbird – 6.5 cm (2.6 in)[14]
- Insect: Tanzanian parasitic wasp (Fairyfly) – 0.2 mm (0.0079 in)[15]
References
- ^ 777-200/300 Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning (PDF) (Technical report). Boeing. December 2008. p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 15, 2014.
- ISBN 9780123742995.
- ^ Smith, Cameron (June 17, 2013). "High school basketball player's stunning wingspan". Yahoo Sports!. Retrieved October 7, 2013.
- ^ Schudel, Matt (June 19, 2010). "Manute Bol, former Washington Bullet and one of NBA's tallest players, dies at 47". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 19, 2010.
- ^ "Former NBA player Manute Bol to speak at Union". Union College. November 3, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
- ^ "Paul Allen showed off his new rocket-launching plane today, and it's BIG". Ars Technica. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ^ a b "Bats". Sea World. Archived from the original on November 19, 2005. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
- ISBN 978-0-85112-235-9.
- PMID 17609382.
- ^ Connor, Steve (September 10, 2005). "Flying dinosaur biggest airborne animal". New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
- ^ "Largest Lepidopteran Wing Span". University of Florida Book of Insect Records. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved June 23, 2007.
- ^ Mitchell, F.L. and Lasswell, J. (2005): A dazzle of dragonflies Texas A&M University Press, page 47
- ^ "Starr bumble bee". Pima Air & Space Museum. Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ^ Adrienne Glick. "Mellisuga helenae bee hummingbird". Animal Diversity Web. University of Michigan. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
- ^ "Smallest Insect Filmed in Flight". ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 29, 2013.