A dripstick is a thin hollow tube installed vertically in the bottoms of
fuel tank
A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for Flammability, flammable fluids, often gasoline or diesel fuel. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine sys ...
s of many large
aircraft
An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...
, used to check fuel levels. To read a dripstick, it is withdrawn from the lower surface of the
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
. When the top of the dripstick is withdrawn below the level of the
fuel
A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...
, fuel enters it and drips through a hole in the cap.
on it indicate the level of fuel in the tank.
Newer aircraft use a
floatstick.
References
{{reflist
External links
Boeing 727 Dripstick Chart
Volumetric instruments
Aircraft fuel system components