The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) mentions as the first meaning of the term wingspan the distance recorded between the ends of the two wings of an airplane . The concept also refers to the width between the tips of the animals' wings and the width of the main sail of a ship. The notion derives from verga , a word that, among other uses, refers to a rod.
The aircraft with the largest wingspan in history , which reached 97.54 meters, is the Hughes H-4 Hercules , a seaplane designed and manufactured by Hughes Aircraft . This plane made a single experimental flight of less than two kilometers.
Another name by which the Hughes H-4 Hercules is known is Spruce Goose , which means " spruce goose." The owner of the company that built it was Howard Hughes , a businessman who took advantage of his fortune to venture into engineering on a self-taught basis, as well as other fields such as aviation and film directing. The wingspan was not its only outstanding point, since the H-4 is the largest seaplane in history.
It all began in 1942, when the North American Department of Defense had to face the impossibility of transferring personnel and war material to the United Kingdom, since German submarines attacked Allied ships traveling through the Atlantic Ocean, causing which resulted in significant losses for the country. For this reason, the perfect solution seemed to be an airplane capable of supporting the trip and the load.
Thus began the program called Liberty ships , coordinated by Henry J. Kaiser , the inventor of the H-4, who worked in the company of Howard Hughes with the aim of building a ship capable of transporting 750 soldiers along with two war tanks. , which is why the span was so extensive.
This seaplane had eight engines and was built mainly of wood, instead of metal, something that aroused very negative criticism from some experts who already suspected what would ultimately happen: the project would be a failure.
The aircraft with the largest wingspan currently active is the Antonov An-225 Mriya , owned by Antonov Airlines . This vehicle is used to transport heavy loads.
The Antonov An-225 Mriya was created in the Soviet Union in the 1980s and not only holds the title of the largest but is also the heaviest in the world, as well as the most aerodynic (it weighs more than air but can be supported by their own means). It was designed to transport the Burán shuttle, among other elements of the large space program, and succeeded the fourth largest aircraft currently operational, the Antonov An-124 Ruslán .
The first unit was built in 1988, and the second was not completed. Only in 2016 did they reactivate the project to manufacture more aircraft through an agreement between China and Ukraine.
Among animals , the wandering albatross (also known as the traveling albatross ), whose scientific name is Diomedea exulans , is the current bird with the largest wingspan. A distance of 3.7 meters between the ends of the wings of a specimen of this species has been recorded.
The extension of a person's arms when they are fully extended in a cross pattern is also called wingspan.
In colloquial language , finally, the magnitude or transcendence of something is called magnitude. For example: "The national government is developing large-scale works that will change people's lives forever" , "The coach plans to hire two major reinforcements for the next tournament" , "Scientists made a discovery of unprecedented magnitude" .