Wingspan - wikipedia Wingspan For other uses, see Wingspan ( disambiguation ). 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 other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 - 200 has a wingspan of 60.93 metres ( 199 ft 11 in ), and a wandering albatross ( Diomedea exulans ) caught in 1965 had a wingspan of 3.63 metres ( 11 ft 11 in ), the official record for a living bird. The term wingspan, more technically extent, is also used for other winged animals such as pterosaurs, bats, insects, etc., and other fixed - wing aircraft such as ornithopters. In humans, the term wingspan also refers to the distance between the length from one end of an individual 's arms ( measured at the fingertips ) to the other when raised parallel to the ground at shoulder height at a 90o angle. Former professional basketball player Manute Bol stands at 7'7 and owns one of the largest wingspans at 8'6. Contents 1 Wingspan of aircraft 1.1 Implications for aircraft design and animal evolution 2 Wingspan of flying animals 3 Wingspan in sports 4 Wingspan records 4.1 Largest wingspan 4.2 Smallest wingspan 5 References 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 ( 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, 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 the predated, and 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 produces lower roll rates. For them, short - span, broad wings are preferred. The highest aspect ratio man - made wings are aircraft propellers, in their most extreme form as helicopter rotors. Further information : Flight dynamics ( fixed - wing aircraft ) and airplane wings 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, ankles and the distance is measured between the tips of the longest primary feathers on each wing. 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 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 in boxing terminology. The wingspan of 16 - year - old BeeJay Anya, a top basketball Junior Class of 2013 prospect who now plays for the NC State Wolfpack, was officially measured at 7 feet, 9 inches across, one of the longest of all National Basketball Association draft prospects, and the longest ever for a non-7 - foot player. The wingspan of Manute Bol, at 8 feet 6 inches ( 2.59 m ), is ( as of 2013 ) the longest in NBA history, and his vertical reach was 10 feet 5 inches ( 3.18 m ). Wingspan records Largest wingspan Aircraft ( flight planned in 2017 ) : Stratolaunch carrier aircraft -- 117 m ( 385 ft ) Aircraft ( one flight in 1947 ) : Hughes H - 4 Hercules `` Spruce Goose '' -- 97.51 m ( 319 ft 11 in ) Aircraft ( current ) Antonov An - 225 Mriya - 88.4 m ( 290 ft ) Bat : Large flying fox -- 1.5 m ( 4 ft 11 in ) Bird : Wandering albatross -- 3.63 m ( 11 ft 11 in ) Bird ( extinct ) : Argentavis -- Estimated 7 m ( 23 ft 0 in ) Reptile ( extinct ) : Quetzalcoatlus pterosaur -- 10 -- 11 m ( 33 -- 36 ft ) Insect : White witch moth -- 28 cm ( 11.0 in ) Insect ( extinct ) : Meganeuropsis ( relative of dragonflies ) -- estimated up to 71 cm ( 28.0 in ) Smallest wingspan Aircraft ( biplane ) : Starr Bumble Bee II -- 1.68 m ( 5 ft 6 in ) Aircraft ( jet ) : Bede BD - 5 -- 4.27 m ( 14 ft 0 in ) Aircraft ( twin engine ) : Colomban Cri - cri -- 4.9 m ( 16 ft 1 in ) Bat : Bumblebee bat -- 16 cm ( 6.3 in ) Bird : Bee hummingbird -- 6.5 cm ( 2.6 in ) Insect : Tanzanian parasitic wasp -- 0.2 mm ( 0.0079 in ) References Jump up ^ 777 - 200 / 300 Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning ( PDF ) ( Technical report ). Boeing. December 2008. p. 15. Jump up ^ Smith, Cameron ( June 17, 2013 ). `` High school basketball player 's stunning wingspan ''. Yahoo Sports !. Retrieved October 7, 2013. Jump up ^ Schudel, Matt ( 19 June 2010 ). `` Manute Bol, former Washington Bullet and one of NBA 's tallest players, dies at 47 ''. The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 June 2010. Jump up ^ `` Former NBA player Manute Bol to speak at Union ''. Union College. Nov 3, 2008. Retrieved 2012 - 12 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Paul Allen showed off his new rocket - launching plane today, and it 's BIG ''. Ars Technica. Retrieved 2017 - 06 - 01. Jump up ^ `` Spruce Goose ''. Evergreen Aviation Museum. Retrieved June 23, 2007. ^ Jump up to : `` Bats ''. Sea World. Retrieved June 23, 2007. Jump up ^ Wood, Gerald ( 1983 ). The Guinness Book of Animal Facts and Feats. ISBN 978 - 0 - 85112 - 235 - 9. Jump up ^ Chatterjee, Sankar ; Templin, R. Jack ; Campbell, Kenneth E. Jr. ( 2007 ). `` The aerodynamics of Argentavis, the world 's largest flying bird from the Miocene of Argentina ''. 104 ( 30 ) : 12398 -- 12403. Jump up ^ Connor, Steve ( September 10, 2005 ). `` Flying dinosaur biggest airborne animal ''. New Zealand Herald. Retrieved June 23, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Largest Lepidopteran Wing Span ''. University of Florida Book of Insect Records. Archived from the original on March 2, 2008. Retrieved June 23, 2007. Jump up ^ Mitchell, F.L. and Lasswell, J. ( 2005 ) : A dazzle of dragonflies Texas A&M University Press, page 47 Jump up ^ `` Starr bumble bee ''. Pima Air & Space Museum. Jump up ^ Adrienne Glick. `` Mellisuga helenae bee hummingbird ''. Animal Diversity Web. Univertiy of Michigan. Retrieved 29 November 2013. Jump up ^ `` Smallest Insect Filmed in Flight ''. ScienceDaily. Retrieved 29 November 2013. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wingspan&oldid=829622914 '' Categories : Aerospace engineering Aircraft wing design Birds Length Anatomical terminology Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from October 2013 Wikipedia articles needing clarification from September 2011 All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from February 2009 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Asturianu Беларуская ( тарашкевіца ) ‎ Български Català Čeština Deutsch Español Esperanto فارسی Français Galego Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Latina Македонски Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Slovenščina Suomi Svenska தமிழ் Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 25 more Edit links This page was last edited on 9 March 2018, at 19 : 35. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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Question: who has the longest wingspan in nba history
Answer: Manute Bol