Editing Wingspan

{{Short description|Distance between wingtips}}
{{Other uses|Wingspan (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
[[File:Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 777-200ER (HZ-AKC) departs London Heathrow 15Aug2008 arp.jpg|thumb|The distance A to B is the wingspan of this [[Boeing 777-200ER]] ]]

The '''wingspan''' (or just '''span''') of a [[bird]] or an [[airplane]] is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the [[Boeing 777|Boeing 777–200]] has a wingspan of {{convert|60.93|m|ftin}},<ref>{{Cite tech report |url= http://www.boeing.com/assets/pdf/commercial/airports/acaps/777_23.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140315184514/http://www.boeing.com/assets/pdf/commercial/airports/acaps/777_23.pdf |archive-date=2014-03-15 |url-status=live |title=777-200/300 Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning |p=15|publisher=[[Boeing]] |date= December 2008 }}</ref> and a [[wandering albatross]] (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of {{convert|3.63|m|ftin}}, the official record for a living bird.
The term wingspan, more technically '''extent''', is also used for other winged animals such as [[pterosaur]]s, [[bat]]s, [[insect]]s, etc., and other [[aircraft]] such as [[ornithopter]]s.
In [[human]]s, the term wingspan also refers to the [[arm span]], which is the distance between the length from the end of an individual's arm (measured at the fingertips) to the individual's fingertips on the other arm when raised parallel to the ground at shoulder height.

==Wingspan of aircraft==
The wingspan of an aircraft is always measured in a straight line, from wingtip to wingtip, regardless of wing shape or [[Swept wing|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 ([[Chord (aircraft)|mean chord]]) of the wing, so either a long, narrow wing or a shorter, broader wing will support the same mass. For efficient steady flight, the ratio of span to chord, the [[Aspect ratio (wing)|aspect ratio]], should be as high as possible (the constraints are usually structural) because this lowers the [[lift-induced drag]] associated with the inevitable [[wingtip vortices]]. Long-ranging birds, like albatrosses, and most commercial aircraft maximize aspect ratio. Alternatively, animals and aircraft which depend on maneuverability (fighters, predators and prey, as well as those who live amongst trees and bushes, insect catchers, etc.) need to be able to roll fast to turn, and the high [[moment of inertia]] of long narrow wings, as well as the high angular drag and quick balancing of [[aileron]] lift with wing lift at a low rotation rate, produce lower [[Yaw, pitch, and roll|roll rates]]. For them, short-span, broad wings are preferred. Additionally, ground handling in aircraft is a significant problem for very high aspect ratios and flying animals may encounter similar issues.

The highest aspect ratio of man-made wings are aircraft propellers, in their most extreme form as [[helicopter rotor]]s.
{{Further|Flight dynamics (fixed-wing aircraft)}}

==Wingspan of flying animals==
[[File:Pelican Wing Span-1and (3791088297).jpg|thumb|Pelican wingspan]]
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 feather]]s on each wing.<ref>{{cite book |last= Pennycuick |first=C. J. |date=2008 |title= Modelling the flying birds |publisher= Academic Press |isbn=9780123742995}}</ref>

The wingspan of an insect refers to the wingspan of pinned specimens, and may refer to the distance between the centre of the thorax and the apex of the wing doubled or to the width between the [[Apex (entomology)|apices]] with the wings set with the trailing wing edge [[perpendicular]] to the body.

==Wingspan in sports==
In [[basketball]] and [[gridiron football]], a fingertip-to-fingertip measurement is used to determine the player's wingspan, also called armspan. This is called [[Reach (physical measurement)|reach]] in boxing terminology. The wingspan of 16-year-old [[BeeJay Anya]], a top basketball Junior Class of 2013 prospect who played for the [[NC State Wolfpack men's basketball|NC State Wolfpack]], was officially measured at {{convert|7|ft|9|in}} across, one of the longest of all [[National Basketball Association]] draft prospects, and the longest ever for a non-7-foot player, though Anya went undrafted in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith |first=Cameron |url=http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Top-junior-hoops-prospect-may-have-longest-wings?urn=highschool-wp2931 |title=High school basketball player's stunning wingspan |publisher=Yahoo Sports! |date=June 17, 2013 |access-date=October 7, 2013}}</ref> The wingspan of [[Manute Bol]], at {{convert|8|ft|6|in|m}}, is (as of 2013) the longest in NBA history, and his vertical reach was {{convert|10|ft|5|in|m}}.<ref name="WaPo obit">{{cite news|last=Schudel|first=Matt |title=Manute Bol, former Washington Bullet and one of NBA's tallest players, dies at 47|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/19/AR2010061902214.html|access-date=June 19, 2010|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=June 19, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Former NBA player Manute Bol to speak at Union |publisher = [[Union College]] |date = November 3, 2008 |url = http://www.union.edu/N/DS/s.php?s=8105 |access-date = December 8, 2012 }}</ref>

==Wingspan records==
===Largest wingspan===
*'''Aircraft''': [[Scaled Composites Stratolaunch]] — {{convert|117|m|ft|abbr=off}} <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/05/paul-allen-showed-off-his-new-rocket-launching-plane-today-it-is-big/|title=Paul Allen showed off his new rocket-launching plane today, and it's BIG|work=[[Ars Technica]]|access-date=June 1, 2017|language=en-us}}</ref>
*'''Bat''': [[Large flying fox]] – {{convert|1.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}}<ref name="Bats">{{cite web|url=http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/Animal-Bytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/mammalia/chiroptera/bats.htm|title=Bats|publisher=Sea World|access-date=June 23, 2007|archive-date=November 19, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051119153537/http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/Animal-Bytes/animalia/eumetazoa/coelomates/deuterostomes/chordata/craniata/mammalia/chiroptera/bats.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*'''Bird'''
**'''Extant''': [[Wandering albatross]] – {{convert|3.63|m|ftin|abbr=on}}<ref name = "Wood">{{cite book | author = Wood, Gerald | url = https://archive.org/details/guinnessbookofan00wood | title = The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats | year = 1983 | publisher = Guinness Superlatives | isbn = 978-0-85112-235-9 | url-access = registration }}</ref>
**'''Extinct''': ''[[Argentavis]]'' – Estimated {{convert|7|m|ftin|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Chatterjee|first1= Sankar|last2= Templin|first2= R. Jack|last3= Campbell|first3= Kenneth E.Jr.|title= The aerodynamics of Argentavis, the world's largest flying bird from the Miocene of Argentina|journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|year = 2007|volume= 104|issue= 30|pages= 12398–12403|doi=10.1073/pnas.0702040104|pmid= 17609382|pmc= 1906724|doi-access= free}}</ref>
*'''Insect'''
**'''Extant''': [[Thysania agrippina|White witch moth]] – {{convert|28|cm|1|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ufbir.ifas.ufl.edu/chap32.htm |title=Largest Lepidopteran Wing Span |publisher=University of Florida Book of Insect Records |access-date=June 23, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302212157/http://ufbir.ifas.ufl.edu/chap32.htm |archive-date=March 2, 2008  }}</ref>
**'''Extinct''': ''[[Meganeuropsis]]'' ([[Griffinfly]], relative of dragonflies) – estimated up to {{convert|71|cm|1|abbr=on}}<ref>Mitchell, F.L. and Lasswell, J. (2005): A dazzle of dragonflies Texas A&M University Press, page 47</ref>
*'''Reptile''': ''[[Hatzegopteryx]]'' ([[Azhdarchid]] pterosaur) – {{convert|10|-|12|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}<ref name=witton2010>{{cite journal |last1= Witton |first1= Mark P. |last2= Martill |first2= David M. |last3= Loveridge |first3= Robert F. |year= 2010 |title= Clipping the Wings of Giant Pterosaurs: Comments on Wingspan Estimations and Diversity |journal= Acta Geoscientica Sinica |volume= 31 |issue= Supp 1 |pages= 79–81}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | first2 = M.P. | last2 = Witton | first1 = D. | last1 = Naish | title = Neck biomechanics indicate that giant Transylvanian azhdarchid pterosaurs were short-necked arch predators | volume = 5 | pages = e2908 | doi = 10.7717/peerj.2908 | pmid = 28133577 | pmc = 5248582 | journal = PeerJ | date = 2017 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="G.S.Paul2022">{{Cite book|last=Paul|first=Gregory S.|title=The Princeton Field Guide to Pterosaurs|year=2022|publisher=Princeton University Press|pages=155–172|doi=10.1515/9780691232218|isbn=9780691232218|s2cid=249332375 }}</ref>

=== Smallest wingspan ===
*'''Aircraft'''
**'''Biplane''': [[Starr Bumble Bee II]] – {{convert|1.68|m|ftin|abbr=on}}<ref name="Pima">{{cite web|website= Pima Air & Space Museum|title= Starr bumble bee|url= http://www.pimaair.org/collection-detail.php?cid=254|access-date= December 8, 2013|archive-date= November 11, 2007|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071111153623/http://www.pimaair.org/collection-detail.php?cid=254|url-status= dead}}</ref>
**'''Jet''': [[Bede BD-5]] – {{convert|4.27|m|ftin|abbr=on}}{{citation needed|date=February 2009}}
**'''Twin engine''': [[Colomban Cri-cri]] – {{convert|4.9|m|ftin|abbr=on}}
*'''Bat''': [[Bumblebee bat]] – {{convert|16|cm|in|abbr=on}}<ref name="Bats" />
*'''Bird''': [[Bee hummingbird]] – {{convert|6.5|cm|in|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web|website= Animal Diversity Web|publisher= University of Michigan|title= ''Mellisuga helenae'' bee hummingbird|author= Adrienne Glick|access-date= November 29, 2013|url= http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Mellisuga_helenae/}}</ref>
*'''Insect''': Tanzanian parasitic wasp ([[Fairyfly]]) – {{convert|0.2|mm|abbr=on}}<ref>{{cite web|website= ScienceDaily|title= Smallest Insect Filmed in Flight|url= https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110525105832.htm|access-date= November 29, 2013}}</ref>
*'''Reptile''': ''[[Nemicolopterus]]'' ([[Tapejaromorph]] pterosaur) – {{convert|25|cm|in|0|abbr=on}}<ref name=wangetal2008>{{cite journal |last1= Wang |first1= X. |last2= Kellner |first2= A.W.A. |last3= Zhou |first3= Z. |last4= Campos |first4= D.A. |year= 2008 |title= Discovery of a rare arboreal forest-dwelling flying reptile (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea) from China |journal= Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume= 105|issue= 6 |pages= 1983–1987 |doi= 10.1073/pnas.0707728105 |pmid=18268340 |pmc=2538868|bibcode= 2008PNAS..105.1983W|doi-access= free }}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[List of large aircraft]]
*[[List of largest birds]]
*[[List of largest insects]]
*[[Pterosaur size]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Aerospace engineering]]
[[Category:Aircraft wing design]]
[[Category:Birds]]
[[Category:Length]]
[[Category:Anatomical terminology]]