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97-460: The Mauro Solar Riser is an American biplane ultralight electric aircraft that was the first crewed aircraft to fly on solar power . It was also only the second solar-powered aircraft to fly, after the uncrewed AstroFlight Sunrise , which had first flown 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 years earlier. The president of Ultralight Flying Machines , Larry Mauro, created the Solar Riser by converting

194-411: A coordinated turn , adverse yaw is effectively compensated by the use of the rudder , which results in a sideforce on the vertical tail that opposes the adverse yaw by creating a favorable yawing moment. Another method of compensation is ' differential ailerons ', which have been rigged so that the down-going aileron deflects less than the up-going one. In this case the opposing yaw moment is generated by

291-452: A French military engineer, Charles Renard , built and flew an unmanned glider incorporating ailerons on each side (which he termed 'winglets'), activated by a Boulton-style pendulum controlled single-axis autopilot device. The pioneering U.S. aeronautical engineer Octave Chanute published descriptions and drawings of the Wright brothers ' 1902 glider in the leading aviation periodical of

388-653: A W shape cabane, however as it does not connect the wings to each other, it does not add to the number of bays. Large transport and bombing biplanes often needed still more bays to provide sufficient strength. These are often referred to as multi-bay biplanes . A small number of biplanes, such as the Zeppelin-Lindau D.I have no interplane struts and are referred to as being strutless . Because most biplanes do not have cantilever structures, they require rigging wires to maintain their rigidity. Early aircraft used simple wire (either braided or plain), however during

485-538: A change in flight path due to the tilting of the lift vector . Movement around this axis is called 'rolling' or 'banking'. Considerable controversy exists over credit for the invention of the aileron. The Wright brothers and Glenn Curtiss fought a years-long legal battle over the Wright patent of 1906, which described a method of wing-warping to achieve lateral control. The brothers prevailed in several court decisions which found that Curtiss's use of ailerons violated

582-410: A difference in profile drag between the left and right wingtips. Frise ailerons accentuate this profile drag imbalance by protruding beneath the wing of an upward-deflected aileron, most often by being hinged slightly behind the leading edge and near the bottom of the surface, with the lower section of the aileron surface's leading edge protruding slightly below the wing's undersurface when the aileron

679-624: A documented jet-kill, as one Lockheed F-94 Starfire was lost while slowing down to 161 km/h (100 mph) – below its stall speed – during an intercept in order to engage the low flying Po-2. Later biplane trainers included the de Havilland Tiger Moth in the Royal Air Force (RAF), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and others and the Stampe SV.4 , which saw service postwar in the French and Belgian Air Forces. The Stearman PT-13

776-513: A faster and more comfortable successor to the Dragon. As the available engine power and speed increased, the drag penalty of external bracing increasingly limited aircraft performance. To fly faster, it would be necessary to reduce external bracing to create an aerodynamically clean design; however, early cantilever designs were either too weak or too heavy. The 1917 Junkers J.I sesquiplane utilized corrugated aluminum for all flying surfaces, with

873-619: A former curator of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and other researchers, due to the patent they had received the Wrights stood firmly on the position that all flying using lateral roll control, anywhere in the world, would only be conducted under license by them. The Wrights subsequently became embroiled with numerous lawsuits they launched against aircraft builders who used lateral flight controls, and

970-507: A minimum of struts; however, it was relatively easy to damage the thin metal skin and required careful handling by ground crews. The 1918 Zeppelin-Lindau D.I fighter was an all-metal stressed-skin monocoque fully cantilevered biplane, but its arrival had come too late to see combat use in the conflict. By the 1930s, biplanes had reached their performance limits, and monoplanes become increasingly predominant, particularly in continental Europe where monoplanes had been increasingly common from

1067-400: A monoplane using the same airfoil and aspect ratio . The lower wing is usually attached to the fuselage , while the upper wing is raised above the fuselage with an arrangement of cabane struts , although other arrangements have been used. Either or both of the main wings can support ailerons , while flaps are more usually positioned on the lower wing. Bracing is nearly always added between

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1164-422: A new and useful method of controlling an airplane. The patent application included the claim for the lateral control of aircraft flight that was not limited to wing warping, but through any manipulation of the "....angular relations of the lateral margins of the airplanes [wings].... varied in opposite directions". Thus the patent explicitly stated that other methods besides wing-warping could be used for adjusting

1261-463: A small degree, but more often was used to improve access to the cockpit. Many biplanes have staggered wings. Common examples include the de Havilland Tiger Moth , Bücker Bü 131 Jungmann and Travel Air 2000 . Alternatively, the lower wing can instead be moved ahead of the upper wing, giving negative stagger, and similar benefits. This is usually done in a given design for structural reasons, or to improve visibility. Examples of negative stagger include

1358-473: A somewhat unusual sesquiplane arrangement, possessing a more substantial lower wing with two spars that eliminated the flutter problems encountered by single-spar sesquiplanes. The stacking of wing planes was suggested by Sir George Cayley in 1843. Hiram Maxim adopted the idea for his steam-powered test rig, which lifted off but was held down by safety rails, in 1894. Otto Lilienthal designed and flew two different biplane hang gliders in 1895, though he

1455-430: A stock UFM Easy Riser hang glider to solar power. Normally foot-launched, the Solar Riser had wheeled landing gear added. Power is supplied by a Bosch electric starter motor of 3.5 hp (2.6 kW) connected to a 30-volt DC Nickel-cadmium battery pack taken from a Hughes 500 helicopter, powering a 41 in (104.1 cm) propeller through a reduction drive made from a timing belt and two pulleys. The battery

1552-502: Is basically countered by aircraft yaw stability and also by the use of differential aileron movement. The Frise-type aileron also forms a slot, so air flows smoothly over the lowered aileron, making it more effective at high angles of attack. Frise-type ailerons may also be designed to function differentially. Like the differential aileron , the Frise-type aileron does not eliminate adverse yaw entirely. Coordinated rudder application

1649-560: Is better known for his monoplanes. By 1896 a group of young men in the United States, led by Octave Chanute , were flying hang gliders including biplanes and concluded that the externally braced biplane offered better prospects for powered flight than the monoplane. In 1903, the Wright Flyer biplane became the first successful powered aeroplane. Throughout the pioneer years, both biplanes and monoplanes were common, but by

1746-411: Is caused partly by the change in drag between the left and right wing. The rising wing generates increased lift, which causes increased induced drag . The descending wing generates reduced lift, which causes reduced induced drag. Profile drag caused by the deflected ailerons may add further to the difference, along with changes in the lift vectors as one rotates back while the other rotates forward. In

1843-431: Is deflected upwards, substantially increasing profile drag on that side. Ailerons may also be designed to use a combination of these methods. With ailerons in the neutral position, the wing on the outside of the turn develops more lift than the opposite wing due to the variation in airspeed across the wing span, which tends to cause the aircraft to continue to roll. Once the desired angle of bank (degree of rotation about

1940-402: Is moved downward, the other is moved upward: the down-going aileron increases the lift on its wing while the up-going aileron reduces the lift on its wing, producing a rolling (also called 'banking') moment about the aircraft's longitudinal axis (which extends from the nose to the tail of an airplane). Ailerons are usually situated near the wing tip , but may sometimes also be situated nearer

2037-412: Is still needed when ailerons are applied. By careful design of the mechanical linkages, the up aileron can be made to deflect more than the down aileron (e.g., US patent 1,565,097). This helps reduce the likelihood of a wing tip stall when aileron deflections are made at high angles of attack. In addition, the consequent differential in drag reduces adverse yaw (as also discussed above ). The idea

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2134-422: Is that the loss of lift associated with the up aileron carries no penalty while the increase in lift associated with the down aileron is minimized. The rolling couple on the aircraft is always the difference in lift between the two wings. A designer at de Havilland invented a simple and practical linkage and their de Havilland Tiger Moth classic British biplane became one of the best-known aircraft, and one of

2231-493: The Bristol Aeroplane Company developed an aileron shape that is pivoted at about its 25 to 30% chord line and near its bottom surface [1] , in order to decrease stick forces as aircraft became faster during the 1930s. When the aileron is deflected up (to make its wing go down), the leading edge of the aileron starts to protrude below the underside of the wing into the airflow beneath the wing. The moment of

2328-536: The Bristol M.1 , that caused even those with relatively high performance attributes to be overlooked in favour of 'orthodox' biplanes, and there was an allegedly widespread belief held at that time that monoplane aircraft were inherently unsafe during combat. Between the years of 1914 and 1925, a clear majority of new aircraft introduced were biplanes; however, during the latter years of the First World War,

2425-653: The First World War -era Fokker D.VII fighter and the Second World War de Havilland Tiger Moth basic trainer. The larger two-seat Curtiss JN-4 Jenny is a two bay biplane , the extra bay being necessary as overlong bays are prone to flexing and can fail. The SPAD S.XIII fighter, while appearing to be a two bay biplane, has only one bay, but has the midpoints of the rigging braced with additional struts; however, these are not structurally contiguous from top to bottom wing. The Sopwith 1½ Strutter has

2522-703: The Grumman Ag Cat are available in upgraded versions with turboprop engines. The two most produced biplane designs were the 1913 British Avro 504 of which 11,303 were built, and the 1928 Soviet Polikarpov Po-2 of which over 20,000 were built, with the Po-2 being the direct replacement for the Soviet copy of the Avro 504. Both were widely used as trainers. The Antonov An-2 was very successful too, with more than 18,000 built. Although most ultralights are monoplanes,

2619-617: The Lite Flyer Biplane, the Sherwood Ranger , and the Murphy Renegade . The feathered dinosaur Microraptor gui glided, and perhaps even flew, on four wings, which may have been configured in a staggered sesquiplane arrangement. This was made possible by the presence of flight feathers on both forelimbs and hindlimbs, with the feathers on the forelimbs opening to a greater span. It has been suggested that

2716-556: The Nieuport-Delage NiD 42 / 52 / 62 series, Fokker C.Vd & e, and Potez 25 , all serving across a large number of air forces. In the general aviation sector, aircraft such as the Waco Custom Cabin series proved to be relatively popular. The Saro Windhover was a sesquiplane with the upper wing smaller than the lower, which was a much rarer configuration than the reverse. The Pfalz D.III also featured

2813-501: The Sopwith Dolphin , Breguet 14 and Beechcraft Staggerwing . However, positive (forward) stagger is much more common. The space enclosed by a set of interplane struts is called a bay (much as the architectural form is used), hence a biplane or triplane with one set of such struts connecting the wings on each side of the aircraft is a single-bay biplane . This provided sufficient strength for smaller aircraft such as

2910-465: The Wright brothers patent war . The Wright company quietly changed its aircraft flight controls from wing warping to the use of ailerons at that time as well. Others who were previously thought to have been the first to introduce ailerons included: The Wright Brothers' Ohio patent attorney Henry Toulmin filed an expansive patent application and on May 22, 1906, the brothers were granted U.S. Patent 821393. The patent's importance lay in its claim of

3007-473: The fuselage is parallel to the flight path. A simple gauge on the instrument panel called the slip indicator , also known as "the ball", indicates when this coordination is achieved. Particularly on larger or faster aircraft, control forces may be extremely heavy. Borrowing a discovery from boats that extending a control surface's area forward of the hinge lightens the forces needed first appeared on ailerons during World War I when ailerons were extended beyond

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3104-501: The later version of the Santos-Dumont Demoiselle , which only warped the wingtips "downward". One of the disadvantages of this setup was a greater tendency to yaw than even with basic interconnected ailerons. During the 1930s a number of light aircraft used single acting controls but used springs to return the ailerons to their neutral positions when the stick was released. Used on the first-ever airframe to have

3201-427: The wing root . Modern airliners may also have a second pair of ailerons on their wings, with the two positions distinguished by the terms 'outboard aileron' and 'inboard aileron'. An unwanted side effect of aileron operation is adverse yaw —a yawing moment in the opposite direction to the roll. Using the ailerons to roll an aircraft to the right produces a yawing motion to the left. As the aircraft rolls, adverse yaw

3298-603: The 1938 popular US Piper J-3 Cub monoplane possessed Frise ailerons as designed and helped introduce them to a wide audience. A claimed benefit of the Frise aileron is the ability to counteract adverse yaw. To do so, the leading edge of the aileron has to be sharp or bluntly rounded, which adds significant drag to the upturned aileron and helps counterbalance the yaw force created by the other aileron turned down. This can add some unpleasant, nonlinear effect and/or potentially dangerous aerodynamic vibration (flutter). Adverse yaw moment

3395-419: The 7th edition of Cassell's French-English Dictionary of 1877, with its lead meaning of "small wing". In the context of powered airplanes it appears in print about 1908. Prior to that, ailerons were often referred to as rudders , their older technical sibling, with no distinction between their orientations and functions, or more descriptively as horizontal rudders (in French, gouvernails horizontaux ). Among

3492-514: The CR.42 was able to achieve success in the defensive night fighter role against RAF bombers that were striking industrial targets throughout northern Italy. The British Fleet Air Arm operated the Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber from its aircraft carriers, and used the type in the anti-submarine warfare role until the end of the conflict, largely due to their ability to operate from

3589-528: The Caribou , performed the first non-stop flight between the Canadian mainland and Britain in 30 hours 55 minutes, although the intended target for this long distance flight had originally been Baghdad , Iraq . Despite its relative success, British production of the Dragon was quickly ended when in favour of the more powerful and elegant de Havilland Dragon Rapide , which had been specifically designed to be

3686-603: The Cessna 152/172 series can be roll controlled with rudder alone. The rudder of the Boeing 737 has more roll authority over the aircraft than the ailerons at high angles of attack. This led to two notable accidents when the rudder jammed in the fully deflected position causing rollovers (see Boeing 737 rudder issues ). Some aircraft such as the Fokker Spin and model gliders lack any type of lateral control. Those aircraft use

3783-515: The First World War, the British Royal Aircraft Factory developed airfoil section wire named RAFwire in an effort to both increase the strength and reduce the drag. Four types of wires are used in the biplane wing structure. Drag wires inside the wings prevent the wings from being folded back against the fuselage, running inside a wing bay from the forward inboard corner to the rear outboard corner. Anti-drag wires prevent

3880-577: The French Nieuport 17 and German Albatros D.III , offered lower drag than a conventional biplane while being stronger than a monoplane. During the Interwar period , numerous biplane airliners were introduced. The British de Havilland Dragon was a particularly successful aircraft, using straightforward design to could carry six passengers on busy routes, such as London-Paris services. During early August 1934, one such aircraft, named Trail of

3977-661: The Germans had been experimenting with a new generation of monoplanes, such as the Fokker D.VIII , that might have ended the biplane's advantages earlier had the conflict not ended when it had. The French were also introducing the Morane-Saulnier AI , a strut-braced parasol monoplane , although the type was quickly relegated to the advanced trainer role following the resolution of structural issues. Sesquiplane types, which were biplanes with abbreviated lower wings such as

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4074-641: The Junkers J 7 all-duralumin metal demonstrator monoplane using them—the J 7 led directly to the Junkers D.I all-duralumin metal German fighter design of 1918, which had conventionally hinged ailerons. The main problem with this type of aileron is the dangerous tendency to stall if used aggressively, especially if the aircraft is already in danger of stalling, hence the use primarily on prototypes, and their replacement on production aircraft with more conventional ailerons. Engineer Leslie George Frise (1897–1979) of

4171-437: The Wright patent. Ultimately, the First World War compelled the U.S. Government to legislate a legal resolution. A much earlier aileron concept was patented in 1868 by British scientist Matthew Piers Watt Boulton , based on his 1864 paper On Aërial Locomotion . The name "aileron", from French, meaning "little wing", also refers to the extremities of a bird's wings used to control their flight. It first appeared in print in

4268-545: The Wrights. There are still conflicting claims today over who first invented the aileron. Other 19th century engineers and scientists, including Charles Renard , Alphonse Pénaud , and Louis Mouillard , had described similar flight control surfaces. Another technique for lateral flight control, wing warping , was also described or experimented with by several people including Jean-Marie Le Bris , John Montgomery , Clement Ader , Edson Gallaudet , D.D. Wells, and Hugo Mattullath. Aviation historian C.H. Gibbs-Smith wrote that

4365-459: The aileron and its function, i.e., lateral or roll control, the flight control device was invented and described by the British scientist and metaphysicist Matthew Piers Watt Boulton in his 1864 paper On Aërial Locomotion . He was the first to patent an aileron control system in 1868. Boulton's description of his lateral flight control system was "the first record we have of appreciation of

4462-418: The aileron lower surface, ahead of the aileron hinge, by a lever arm. They reduce the force needed by the pilot to deflect the aileron and are often seen on aerobatic aircraft. As the aileron is deflected upward, the spade produces a downward aerodynamic force, which tends to rotate the whole assembly so as to further deflect the aileron upward. The size of the spade (and its lever arm) determines how much force

4559-558: The aileron was "....one of the most remarkable inventions... of aeronautical history, which was immediately lost sight of". In 1906 the Wright brothers obtained a patent not for the invention of an airplane (which had existed for a number of decades in the form of gliders) but for the invention of a system of aerodynamic control that manipulated a flying machine's surfaces, including lateral flight control, although rudders , elevators and ailerons had previously been invented. Pairs of ailerons are typically interconnected so that when one

4656-405: The aileron. In addition to reducing the risk of flutter, mass balances also reduce the stick forces required to move the control surface in maneuvers. Some aileron designs, particularly when fitted on swept wings, include fences like wing fences flush with their inboard plane, in order to suppress some of the spanwise component of the airflow running on the top of the wing, which tends to disrupt

4753-424: The aileron. In some aircraft the aileron construction may be too heavy to allow this system to work without an excessive increase in the weight of the aileron. In this case, the weight may be added to a lever arm to move the weight well out in front to the aileron body. These balance weights are tear drop shaped (to reduce drag), which make them appear quite different from spades, although both project forward and below

4850-416: The aircraft was retired to a museum. Data from EAA Museum and AstroFlight General characteristics Performance Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Biplane Biplanes offer several advantages over conventional cantilever monoplane designs: they permit lighter wing structures, low wing loading and smaller span for a given wing area. However, interference between

4947-531: The airflow over a wing, disrupt the airflow and reduce the amount of lift generated. Many modern aircraft designs, especially jet aircraft , use spoilers in lieu of, or to supplement ailerons, such as the F4 Phantom II and Northrop P-61 Black Widow , which had almost full width flaps (there were very small conventional ailerons at the wingtips as well). All aircraft with dihedral have some form of yaw-roll coupling to promote stability. Common trainers like

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5044-424: The airflow over each wing increases drag substantially, and biplanes generally need extensive bracing, which causes additional drag. Biplanes are distinguished from tandem wing arrangements, where the wings are placed forward and aft, instead of above and below. The term is also occasionally used in biology , to describe the wings of some flying animals . In a biplane aircraft, two wings are placed one above

5141-421: The battery power was enough to launch the aircraft for a soaring flight it was theoretically possible to launch on battery power, soar while the batteries are being charged by sunlight and then continue powered flight. The Solar Riser did not employ the most efficient cells available at the time, and the upper wing had room for twice the number of cells to be installed. Early plans called for upgrading and increasing

5238-407: The biplane naturally has a deep structure and is therefore easier to make both light and strong. Rigging wires on non-cantilevered monoplanes are at a much sharper angle, thus providing less tension to ensure stiffness of the outer wing. On a biplane, since the angles are closer to the ideal of being in direct line with the forces being opposed, the overall structure can then be made stiffer. Because of

5335-450: The brothers were consequently blamed for playing "...a major role in the lack of growth and aviation industry competition in the United States comparative to other nations like Germany leading up to and during World War I". Years of protracted legal conflict ensued with many other aircraft builders until the U.S. entered World War I, when the government imposed a legislated agreement among the parties which resulted in royalty payments of 1% to

5432-488: The cockpit so that different power settings or flight attitudes can be compensated for. Some large aircraft from the 1950s (including the Canadair Argus ) used free floating control surfaces that the pilot controlled only through the deflection of trim tabs, in which case additional tabs were also provided to fine-tune the control to provide straight and level flight. Spades are flat metal plates, usually attached to

5529-541: The combination of "joystick/rudder-bar" controls that directly led to the modern flight control system , the Blériot VIII in 1908, some designs of early aircraft used "wingtip" ailerons, where the entire wingtip was rotated to achieve roll control as a separate, pivoting roll-control surface—the AEA June Bug used a form of these, with both the experimental German Fokker V.1 of 1916 and the earlier versions of

5626-608: The competition aerobatics role and format for such a biplane well-defined by the mid-1930s by the Udet U 12 Flamingo and Waco Taperwing . The Pitts Special dominated aerobatics for many years after World War II and is still in production. The vast majority of biplane designs have been fitted with reciprocating engines . Exceptions include the Antonov An-3 and WSK-Mielec M-15 Belphegor , fitted with turboprop and turbofan engines respectively. Some older biplane designs, such as

5723-509: The day, L'Aérophile , in 1903. This prompted Esnault-Pelterie, a French military engineer, to build a Wright-style glider in 1904 that used ailerons in lieu of wing warping . The French journal L'Aérophile then published photos of the ailerons on Esnault-Pelterie's glider which were included in his June 1905 article, and its ailerons were widely copied afterward. The Wright brothers used wing warping instead of ailerons for roll control on their glider in 1902, and about 1904 their Flyer II

5820-470: The drag from the number of struts used. The structural forces acting on the spars of a biplane wing tend to be lower as they are divided between four spars rather than two, so the wing can use less material to obtain the same overall strength and is therefore lighter. A given area of wing also tends to be shorter, reducing bending moments on the spars, which then allow them to be more lightly built as well. The biplane does however need extra struts to maintain

5917-416: The earliest printed aeronautical use of 'aileron' was that in the French aviation journal L'Aérophile of 1908. Ailerons had more or less completely supplanted other forms of lateral control, such as wing warping , by about 1915, well after the function of the rudder and elevator flight controls had been largely standardised. Although there were previously many conflicting claims over who first invented

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6014-542: The earliest, to use differential ailerons. On the earliest Pioneer Era aircraft, such as the Wright Flyer and the later, 1909-origin Blériot XI and Etrich Taube , lateral control was effected by twisting the outboard portion of the wing so as to increase or decrease lift by changing the angle of attack. This had the disadvantages of stressing the structure, being heavy on the controls, and of risking stalling

6111-549: The end of World War I . At the start of World War II , several air forces still had biplane combat aircraft in front line service but they were no longer competitive, and most were used in niche roles, such as training or shipboard operation, until shortly after the end of the war. The British Gloster Gladiator biplane, the Italian Fiat CR.42 Falco and Soviet I-153 sesquiplane fighters were all still operational after 1939. According to aviation author Gianni Cattaneo,

6208-609: The flight control device was in general use. Gibbs-Smith stated on several occasions that if the Boulton patent had been revealed at the time of the Wright brothers ' legal filings, they might not have been able to claim priority of invention for the lateral control of flying machines. The fact that the Wright brothers were able to gain a patent in 1906 did not invalidate Boulton's lost and forgotten invention. Ailerons were not used on manned aircraft until they were employed on Robert Esnault-Pelterie 's glider in 1904, although in 1871

6305-416: The gap between the wings, which add both weight and drag. The low power supplied by the engines available in the first years of aviation limited aeroplanes to fairly low speeds. This required an even lower stalling speed, which in turn required a low wing loading , combining both large wing area with light weight. Obtaining a large enough wing area without the wings being long, and thus dangerously flexible

6402-459: The hind limbs could not have opened out sideways but in flight would have hung below and slightly behind the fore limbs. Aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft . Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around the aircraft's longitudinal axis ), which normally results in

6499-567: The laminar flow above the aileron, when deflected downwards. Used during aviation's pre-war "pioneer era" and into the early years of the First World War, these ailerons were each controlled by a single cable, which pulled the aileron up. When the aircraft was at rest, the ailerons hung vertically down. This type of aileron was used on the Farman III biplane 1909 and the Short 166 . A "reverse" version of this, utilizing wing-warping, existed on

6596-512: The leading edge in the airflow helps to move up the trailing edge, which decreases the stick force. The down moving aileron also adds energy to the boundary layer. The edge of the aileron directs air flow from the underside of the wing to the upper surface of the aileron, thus creating a lifting force added to the lift of the wing. This reduces the needed deflection of the aileron. Both the Canadian Fleet Model 2 biplane of 1930 and

6693-401: The longitudinal axis) has been obtained, the pilot uses opposite aileron to prevent the angle of bank from increasing due to this variation in lift across the wing span. This minor opposite use of the control must be maintained throughout the turn. The pilot also uses a slight amount of rudder in the same direction as the turn to counteract adverse yaw and to produce a "coordinated" turn wherein

6790-639: The low speeds and simple construction involved have inspired a small number of biplane ultralights, such as Larry Mauro's Easy Riser (1975–). Mauro also made a version powered with solar cells driving an electric motor called the Solar Riser . Mauro's Easy Riser was used by "Father Goose", Bill Lishman . Other biplane ultralights include the Belgian-designed Aviasud Mistral , the German FK12 Comet (1997–),

6887-573: The most famed copies was the Siemens-Schuckert D.I . The Albatros D.III and D.V , which had also copied the general layout from Nieuport, similarly provided the backbone of the German forces during the First World War. The Albatros sesquiplanes were widely acclaimed by their aircrews for their maneuverability and high rate of climb. During interwar period , the sesquiplane configuration continued to be popular, with numerous types such as

6984-500: The necessity for active lateral control as distinguished from [passive lateral stability].... With this invention of Boulton's we have the birth of the present-day three torque method of airborne control" as was praised by Charles Manly . This was also endorsed by C.H. Gibbs-Smith. Boulton's British patent, No. 392 of 1868, issued about 35 years before ailerons were "reinvented" in France, became forgotten and lost from sight until after

7081-609: The night ground attack role throughout the Second World War. In the case of the Po-2, production of the aircraft continued even after the end of the conflict, not ending until around 1952. A significant number of Po-2s were fielded by the Korean People's Air Force during the Korean War , inflicting serious damage during night raids on United Nations bases. The Po-2 is also the only biplane to be credited with

7178-583: The number of cells so that sustained electric flight could be made using only solar energy and not battery power, but these plans were never completed. With Larry Mauro as the pilot, the Solar Riser made the first man-carrying flight on solar power at noon on 29 April 1979 at Flabob Airport at Rubidoux, California , near Riverside . The aircraft reached a maximum height of about 40 ft (12 m) and flew 0.5 mi (0.8 km). A number of other flights of similar height and duration were flown, including demonstration flights at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh before

7275-435: The other. Each provides part of the lift, although they are not able to produce twice as much lift as a single wing of similar size and shape because the upper and the lower are working on nearly the same portion of the atmosphere and thus interfere with each other's behaviour. In a biplane configuration with no stagger from the upper wing to the lower wing, the lift coefficient is reduced by 10 to 15 percent compared to that of

7372-486: The outbreak of the First World War biplanes had gained favour after several monoplane structural failures resulted in the RFC's "Monoplane Ban" when all monoplanes in military service were grounded, while the French also withdrew most monoplanes from combat roles and relegated them to training. Figures such as aviation author Bruce observed that there was an apparent prejudice held even against newly-designed monoplanes, such as

7469-548: The outer portions of an airplane's wings to different angles on its right and left sides to achieve lateral roll control. John J. Montgomery was granted U.S. Patent 831173 at nearly the same time for his methods of wing warping. Both the Wright Brothers patent and Montgomery's patent were reviewed and approved by the same patent examiner at the United States Patent Office, William Townsend. At

7566-404: The pilot needs to apply to deflect the aileron. A spade works in the same manner as a horn but is more efficient due to the longer moment arm . To increase the speed at which control surface flutter ( aeroelastic flutter ) might become a risk, the center of gravity of the control surface is moved towards the hinge-line for that surface. To achieve this, lead weights may be added to the front of

7663-424: The reduced stiffness, wire braced monoplanes often had multiple sets of flying and landing wires where a biplane could easily be built with one bay, with one set of landing and flying wires. The extra drag from the wires was not enough to offset the aerodynamic disadvantages from having two airfoils interfering with each other however. Strut braced monoplanes were tried but none of them were successful, not least due to

7760-657: The relatively compact decks of escort carriers . Its low stall speed and inherently tough design made it ideal for operations even in the often severe mid-Atlantic weather conditions. By the end of the conflict, the Swordfish held the distinction of having caused the destruction of a greater tonnage of Axis shipping than any other Allied aircraft. Both the German Heinkel He 50 and the Soviet Polikarpov Po-2 were used with relative success in

7857-410: The same benefit. Trim tabs are small movable sections resembling scaled down ailerons located at or near the trailing edge of the aileron. On most propeller powered aircraft, the rotation of the propeller(s) induces a counteracting roll movement due to Newton's third law of motion , in that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. To relieve the pilot of having to provide continuous pressure on

7954-728: The series of Nieuport military aircraft—from the Nieuport 10 through to the Nieuport 27 which formed the backbone of the Allied air forces between 1915 and 1917. The performance of the Nieuport sesquiplanes was so impressive that the Idflieg (the German Inspectorate of flying troops) requested their aircraft manufacturers to produce copies, an effort which was aided by several captured aircraft and detailed drawings; one of

8051-663: The side with the increased angle of attack during a maneuver. By 1916, most designers had abandoned wing warping in favor of ailerons. Researchers at NASA and elsewhere have been taking a second look at wing warping again, although under new names. The NASA version is the X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing while the United States Air Force tested the Adaptive Compliant Wing . Spoilers are devices that when extended into

8148-441: The stick in one direction (which causes fatigue) trim tabs are provided to adjust or trim out the pressure needed against any unwanted movement. The tab itself is deflected in relation to the aileron, causing the aileron to move in the opposite direction. Trim tabs come in two forms, adjustable and fixed. A fixed trim tab is manually bent to the required amount of deflection, while the adjustable trim tab can be controlled from within

8245-415: The structural problems associated with monoplanes, but offered little improvement for biplanes. The default design for a biplane has the wings positioned directly one above the other. Moving the upper wing forward relative to the lower one is called positive stagger or, more often, simply stagger. It can increase lift and reduce drag by reducing the aerodynamic interference effects between the two wings by

8342-402: The time Townsend indicated that both methods of wing warping were invented independently and were sufficiently different to each justify their own patent award. Multiple U.S. court decisions favoured the expansive Wright patent, which the Wright Brothers sought to enforce with licensing fees starting from $ 1,000 per airplane, and said to range up to $ 1,000 per day. According to Louis S. Casey,

8439-670: The two planes when the high pressure air under the top wing and the low pressure air above the lower wing cancel each other out. This means that a biplane does not in practice obtain twice the lift of the similarly-sized monoplane. The farther apart the wings are spaced the less the interference, but the spacing struts must be longer, and the gap must be extremely large to reduce it appreciably. As engine power and speeds rose late in World War I , thick cantilever wings with inherently lower drag and higher wing loading became practical, which in turn made monoplanes more attractive as it helped solve

8536-400: The upper and lower wings together. The sesquiplane is a type of biplane where one wing (usually the lower) is significantly smaller than the other. The word, from Latin, means "one-and-a-half wings". The arrangement can reduce drag and weight while retaining the biplane's structural advantages. The lower wing may have a significantly shorter span, or a reduced chord . Examples include

8633-464: The upper and lower wings, in the form of interplane struts positioned symmetrically on either side of the fuselage and bracing wires to keep the structure from flexing, where the wings are not themselves cantilever structures. The primary advantage of the biplane over a monoplane is its ability to combine greater stiffness with lower weight. Stiffness requires structural depth and where early monoplanes had to have this provided with external bracing,

8730-416: The wing warping technique, which was one reason for Esnault-Pelterie's decision to switch to ailerons. By 1911 most biplanes used ailerons rather than wing warping—by 1915 ailerons had become almost universal on monoplanes as well. The U.S. Government, frustrated by the lack of its country's aeronautical advances in the years leading up to World War I , enforced a patent pool effectively putting an end to

8827-434: The wings from folding up, and run from the underside of the outer wing to the lower wing root. Conversely, landing wires prevent the wings from sagging, and resist the forces when an aircraft is landing, and run from the upper wing centre section to outboard on the lower wings. Additional drag and anti-drag wires may be used to brace the cabane struts which connect the fuselage to the wings, and interplane struts, which connect

8924-421: The wings from moving forward when the aircraft stops and run the opposite direction to the drag wires. Both of these are usually hidden within the wings, and if the structure is sufficiently stiff otherwise, may be omitted in some designs. Indeed many early aircraft relied on the fabric covering of the wing to provide this rigidity, until higher speeds and forces made this inadequate. Externally, lift wires prevent

9021-473: The wingtip and provided with a horn ahead of the hinge. Known as overhung ailerons, possibly the best known examples are the Handley Page Type O (first flight 17 December 1915), Sopwith Snipe , Fokker Dr.I and Fokker D.VII . Later examples brought the counterbalance in line with the wing to improve control and reduce drag. This is seen less often now, due to the Frise type aileron which provides

9118-412: Was charged by a series of photovoltaic solar panels mounted in the top wing that provided 350 watts of power. The solar cells were not sufficient to provide all power in flight, so all flights were made by recharging the battery on the ground from the solar cells and then flying using energy stored in the battery. A charge in bright sunshine for an hour and a half yielded a flight of 3–5 minutes. Because

9215-404: Was more readily accomplished with a biplane. The smaller biplane wing allows greater maneuverability . Following World War I, this helped extend the era of the biplane and, despite the performance disadvantages, most fighter aircraft were biplanes as late as the mid-1930s. Specialist sports aerobatic biplanes are still made in small numbers. Biplanes suffer aerodynamic interference between

9312-425: Was the only aircraft of its time able to do a coordinated banked turn. During the early years of powered flight the Wrights had better roll control on their designs than airplanes that used movable surfaces. From 1908, as aileron designs were refined it became clear that ailerons were much more effective and practical than wing warping. Ailerons also had the advantage of not weakening the airplane's wing structure as did

9409-777: Was widely used by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) while the US Navy operated the Naval Aircraft Factory N3N . In later civilian use in the US, the Stearman became particularly associated with stunt flying such as wing-walking , and with crop dusting, where its compactness worked well at low levels, where it had to dodge obstacles. Modern biplane designs still exist in specialist roles such as aerobatics and agricultural aircraft with

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