Airplane Wing - Slicing for Volume

In this applet we approximate the volume of an aircraft wing by the method of slicing. Many fixed wing planes use the wings to hold fuel, and so this volume gives us an upper bound on how much fuel can be so stored. In the Single Cross-section mode, the plus and minus buttons move the slice in the positive or negative x-axis direction. In the Many Cross-sections and Approximate Volume modes, the plus and minus buttons increase or decrease the number of slices.

This is a left (port) side wing, with an x-axis along the leading edge of the wing and initially increasing to the right. The initial view of the wing is from behind and above it as if looking from the top of the plane's tail. This applet was inspired by one available from International Educational Software (IES) in Japan that slices a more abstract solid.

When you think you have a good feel for this slicing applet, try filling in the "lab report" for the Wing.

The code for the applet above is online.

U. S. Navy Aircraft Wingspan, Wing Surface Area, and "Approximate" Wing Volume

Aircraft	Wingspan	Wing Surface Area	Wing Volume
F-18	37 ft 6 in	400 ft²	75 ft³
P-3	99 ft 8 in	1300 ft²	271 ft³
S-3	68 ft 8 in	598 ft²	112 ft³
E-2	80 ft 7 in	700 ft²	146 ft³
AV-8B	30 ft 4 in	230 ft²	43 ft³

Wing volumes were generated using 1/4 of the wing surface area and multiplying by the approximate thickness of the wing for each aircraft

Below are thumbnail U.S. Navy photos of some planes with internal (wing) fuel tanks. These and more pictures are available from the U.S. Navy web site. Also available are full size versions of these photos with captions . (Disclaimer: the wing dimensions and scale in this applet may not be realistic.)

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USNA Mathematics Department
Comments to: Professor Carol G. Crawford, at cgc@nadn.navy.mil or Professor Mark D. Meyerson, at mdm@nadn.navy.mil