A dripstick is a thin hollow tube installed vertically in the bottoms of fuel tanks of many large aircraft, used to check fuel levels. To read a dripstick, it is withdrawn from the lower surface of the wing. When the top of the dripstick is withdrawn below the level of the fuel, fuel enters it and drips through a hole in the cap.[1] Graduations on it indicate the level of fuel in the tank.
Newer aircraft use a floatstick.
References
- ^ McClellan, J. Mac (November 1998). "Management". Flying. Vol. 125, no. 11. p. 102. ProQuest 216159863 – via ProQuest.
In light airplanes you can take the cap off, stick something into the tank and measure the level.