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52-533: The American Flea Ship is a homebuilt triplane variant of the French-designed Mignet Flea licensed by American Mignet Aircraft, and later Universal Aircraft company of Ft Worth, Texas . It is also known as the Flea Triplane. The aircraft was given away by Universal as a marketing effort when a Universal motor was purchased to power it. Later, the fuselage sold for $ 695. The kit version of the aircraft

104-479: A full-sized example at the end of 1912. Experimental tandem-wing aircraft continued to be built after World War I. The Caproni Ca.60 prototype flying boat comprised a long passenger-carrying hull to which were attached in tandem three stacks of triplane wings from the successful Ca.4 line of heavy bombers and airliners, earning it the nickname "Capronissimo". However it broke up on its first attempted takeoff in 1921. The first fully controllable tandem-wing type

156-627: A gulled forward wing and twin fins on the tips of the low-set and slightly shorter-span rear wing. He first built two examples of a smaller aerodynamic test aircraft, the Delanne 20-T , which flew in 1938. The Arsenal de l'Aéronautique then constructed a prototype fighter, the Arsenal-Delanne 10 . It was completed and test-flown after the German invasion of France, and was then taken to Germany for further testing. Meanwhile Westland Aircraft were considering

208-595: A large field near Soissons . The result of this experimentation with many odd and innovative configurations was the HM.14. In 1933, Mignet successfully flew for the first time in his HM.14, the original flying flea , and publicly demonstrated it. In 1934, he published the plans and building instructions in his book Le Sport de l'Air . In 1935, it was translated into English in Britain and serialised in Practical Mechanics in

260-576: A large horsepower engine. When builders started putting larger engines on them and expanding the flight envelope, the wing interference problem surfaced. Following a fatal accident involving G-ADXY the Air League , aware of a number of similar fatal crashes in France, sent G-AEFV to the Royal Aircraft Establishment for full-scale wind tunnel tests. These tests, together with those conducted by

312-511: A modification of the Lysander light observation and liaison aircraft, by adding a rear gun turret to give it some protection from attack. The Lysander already had a suitable main wing, so to support the weight of the turret Westland thought of adding a Delanne-type rear wing. By now hostilities had started but France had not yet fallen. Chief Designer W. E. W. "Teddy" Petter and Chief Test Pilot Harald Penrose flew to Paris, where Penrose flew one of

364-507: A nose down descent. Also some homebuilders attempted to simplify construction by modifying components such as the wings tips curving up, resulting in extremely dangerous airplanes and deadly accidents that forced the air authorities to ban building more of them. Studies in the UK and France revealed the problem (the HM.14 was small enough to fit in wind tunnels in both countries usually used for scale models of larger aircraft) and corrections were made to

416-538: A rolling motion because the wings both had substantial dihedral , through yaw-roll coupling. The rudder had to be quite large not only to produce adequate roll but also because the fuselage was very short, reducing the leverage of the rudder. The Flying Flea, being a two axis aircraft, could not be landed or taken off in substantial crosswinds. This was not a big issue when the aircraft was designed because at that time aircraft were usually flown from large open fields allowing all take-offs and landings into wind. The result

468-438: A self-published book—he hand wrote the text and drawings, created photographic plates and printed and bound the books himself—but Mignet was still not satisfied. In particular, he felt that he was not himself a very good pilot and did not like the challenge of coordinating the stick and rudder on a conventional aircraft. He yearned for a simpler solution. Between 1929 and 1933, he continued building prototypes, and testing them in

520-413: A tandem design can offer a greater range of trim conditions, and hence of centre of gravity (CG) location than other layouts, which can offer a practical solution where weight loadings and distributions may vary during operations. However a wide CG range leads to other problems, including a compatible undercarriage layout and safe stalling characteristics. The joined wing is a tandem-wing layout in which

572-421: A tandem design each wing is smaller and the outer load is absent. This allows the wing structure to be lighter overall. In a conventional design, the fuselage is supported only in one place, with the fore and aft fuselage sections cantilevered out from it. This creates significant bending stresses. A tandem wing supports the same fuselage in two places, reducing the bending stresses. However the torsion stresses on

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624-435: A tandem wing the lift forces on the two wings are separated longitudinally, allowing them to act together to achieve stability, control and trim. The mechanisms of stability and control for a tandem wing are similar to those for the tail-first or canard layout; the distinction is mainly in the relative size of the forward surface. However, the larger trim forces available compared to a smaller tailplane or foreplane mean that

676-480: A tandem-wing model. Four sets of wings in tandem variously provided lift and propulsion, and Burraitni's cat became the first aeronaut to fly in a tandem design. Having also flown simpler fore-and-aft tandem models of up to 14 feet (4.3 m) in span, in 1903 Samuel Pierpont Langley built a full-size tandem-wing monoplane, the Aerodrome , and launched it from the roof of a houseboat. It failed to fly. After his death

728-551: Is also sometimes treated as an extreme staggered biplane and referred to as the Nénandovich biplane. Interference effects between the two wings can make a tandem layout less efficient in cruise than the equivalent conventional design, however examples such as the Scaled Composites Proteus are capable of exceptional efficiency. The tandem layout creates a "slot effect" in which the front wing deflects air downwards over

780-598: The Odonata ( dragonflies and damselflies ), Lepidoptera ( butterflies and moths ) and some Thysanoptera or Thrips . Odonata species typically have long, thin wings and can synchronise the flapping of fore and aft pairs in various different modes, allowing them to be both fast and highly manoeuvrable. By comparison the Lepidoptera have wider wings which are flapped in synchrony and may even overlap in flight, and are better suited to endurance flying. Thrips are smaller insects and

832-514: The Smithsonian Institution sought to prove that he had flown in the weeks before the Wright brothers , and employed successful planemaker Glenn Curtiss to secretly modify the aerodrome until it could fly, as "proof" that it had flown in 1903. Curtiss added floats and made other improvements, enabling it to undertake short hops as a true waterplane in 1914. The ruse was eventually exposed, yet

884-481: The 20-Ts and reported favourably on its handling. The tandem Lysander was not completed until 1941, when Penrose began test flights. Although it performed flawlessly – he wrote that "here was a military prototype that needed no alteration" – it was not ordered into production. George Miles saw the tandem Lysander at RAF Boscombe Down and realised its potential as a short-span, short-take-off Naval fighter. The ensuing Miles M.35 Libellula test aircraft differed from

936-543: The Delanne design in having wings of approximately equal span, but with the rear wing given a longer chord and swept back. Although the design was rejected, it flew well enough to prompt development of the larger M.39B , a subscale test aircraft for the proposed M.39 high-speed bomber to meet Specification B.11/41. This time the fore wing was smaller and mounted low, while the swept rear wing was high-mounted with twin engine nacelles slung beneath. Flying in 1943 it performed well, but

988-541: The Flying Flea. Some of these are: In the 1930s, many Fleas crashed when pilots could not recover from shallow dives, resulting in some deaths. As a result, Flying Fleas were grounded and even banned from flight permanently in some countries. In the United Kingdom, restrictions were placed on Flying Fleas, following a fatal crash on 4 May 1936 at an air display at Penshurst Airfield , Kent . When on approach to land,

1040-508: The French Air Ministry, discovered if the angle of attack of the front wing fell below −15° insufficient pitching moment was generated to raise the nose. Changes to the airfoil section and wing spacing prevented aerodynamic interference and later Mignet Flea designs incorporated these changes. By 1939, there were many improved Flying Fleas in the air, but the aircraft never completely overcame its dangerous reputation. Shortly after

1092-437: The HM.14 model, the name has now come to describe the family of aircraft of similar configuration designed by Mignet and others. The Flying Flea family of aircraft was designed by Frenchman Henri Mignet . Between 1920 and 1928, Mignet built various prototypes from the HM.1 to the HM.8, a monoplane that was the first of his designs that really flew. Instructions for building the HM.8 Avionnette were published by Mignet in

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1144-473: The Peyret glider of 1922. However the rear wing is usually placed either above or below the fore wing, in order to avoid its turbulent wake. One wing is often made a little smaller than the other, according to the details of the design. Indeed, there are no clear dividing lines between the conventional vs. tandem, or the tandem vs. canard configurations. The high-mounted fore wing and low-mounted aft wing arrangement

1196-639: The Sky';) is a large family of light homebuilt aircraft first flown in 1933. The odd name comes from the French nickname for the Ford Model T automobile: Pou de la Route , or "Louse of the Road", because Henry Ford's economy car was so common. Henri Mignet dreamed of creating a Model T of the air, an airplane for the common man, hence the term Pou du Ciel . In English, the term became Flying Flea. Originally applied only to

1248-532: The Smithsonian still sought to claim that the 1902 version had been "capable of flight". It would be many more years before they recanted. Several pioneers had long made successful gliders. In 1905 John J. Montgomery flew a tandem monoplane glider, confirming that the aerodynamic principle was sound. Powered flight followed two years later. In 1906 Louis Blériot built his third aeroplane with tandem elliptical closed wings, later modifying it as his type IV with

1300-405: The UK in 1935 and 1936, many aerodynamic and engine developments took place, notably by Stephen Appleby , John Carden and L.E. Baynes . Despite the initial popularity of the design, thanks in no small part to the passionate enthusiasm of Mignet himself, the original HM.14 revealed design flaws that could lead to an unrecoverable and often fatal dive under certain conditions; when the front wing

1352-421: The UK, they are successfully flown in countries like Australia. French enthusiasts, for example, hold an annual meeting every June. Modern HM.14 builders generally adapt the airfoil and rigging or even the entire wings from later Mignet models, such as the HM.360, to the fuselage of the HM.14 to create a safe and reliable aircraft with the retro look of the original. In 2011 Rodolphe Grunberg of Roquefort, France

1404-470: The USA, prompting hundreds of people around the world to build their own Flying Fleas. Mignet's original HM.14 prototype aircraft was powered by a 17 hp (13 kW) Aubier-Dunne 500 cc two stroke motorcycle engine. It had a wingspan of 19.5 feet (5.9 m), a length of 11.5 feet (3.5 m) and a gross weight of 450 lb (204 kg). It had a usable speed range of 25–62 mph (40–100 km/h). In

1456-417: The aerodynamics of the flapping main wing. Flying fish have enlarged pectoral fins and are capable of gliding flight, though not of true flapping flight. Some species, such as the band-wing, also have sufficiently enlarged pelvic fins , further back along their bodies, to form a tandem layout. Microraptor was a genus of tandem-winged dinosaurs , possibly only a single species. It is known only from

1508-552: The bomber requirement was subsequently cancelled. After WWII, interest returned to the Flying Flea's tilting forewing concept and, with its worst dangers now understood and fixed, designers have continued to develop the idea, typically still for home construction. The Curtiss-Wright X-19 of 1963 marked the entry of the tandem wing configuration into the VTOL arena, as a quadrotor convertiplane, with large tilting proprotors mounted on each wing tip. It proved overly complex and unreliable for

1560-437: The centre section between the wings are greater. Because it is more compact, the tandem-wing structure is stiffer overall, meaning that less allowance needs to be made for bending, and a smaller safety margin in stress levels is possible, allowing yet further weight and cost reduction. The tandem wing configuration predates successful manned flight. As far back as the fifteenth century, Tito Livio Burraitni experimented with

1612-499: The conventional high-aspect-ratio entries, it proved more controllable and manoeuvrable. This enabled the pilot M. Maneyrol to remain in updraughts for longer than the others. Although Peyret continued to develop the design, in both gliders and powered types, they remained a curiosity. The SFCA continued the work of Peyret after he died, adopting his control system. Their Taupin first flew in 1933. Its design proved practical and some 52 examples were produced. Meanwhile Henri Mignet

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1664-459: The design. Unfortunately, the wave of bad publicity created by the crashes dogged Mignet for the rest of his life and continues to be associated with the design today despite the fact that the basic Mignet configuration has proven to be safe in hundreds of successful homebuilt aircraft and factory built microlights. Mignet made the aircraft intentionally simple. The Flying Flea is a tandem wing aircraft, built of wood and fabric. The original design

1716-426: The flying species have relatively stiff wings. Due to their small size, they generate lift via clap and fling flapping rather than the usual leading-edge vortex generation of most insects. Many flying beetles, such as the ladybird , have forward wing cases which open out in flight but do not flap significantly. While on the ground they protect the delicate main, hind wings, while in the air they may be used to modify

1768-574: The fore wing converted into a conventional biplane. But it was not until the next year that his type VI , a wheeled tandem monoplane of broadly similar configuration to Langley's Aerodrome, became the first tandem-wing aeroplane to fly. Between 1907 and 1911, the aerodynamics studies of Gustave Eiffel showed that the tandem layout was inherently less aerodynamically efficient that the more conventional. Overlapping with Eiffel's work, Stefan Driezewicki developed and wind-tunnel tested an inherently stable tandem-wing design. He then built and successfully flew

1820-422: The front wing sweeps back and/or the rear wing sweeps forwards such that they join at or near the tips to form a continuous surface in a hollow diamond or triangle shape. The joined wing is also an example of a closed wing . The Ligeti Stratos is a rare example to have flown. In a conventional layout, the moment arm of the outer section's lifting load is large, and this stresses the root section. However, in

1872-562: The fuselage high enough for a propeller. The high-mounted rear wing had compensating dihedral. The Quickie first flew in 1977 and the next year won the EAA's Outstanding New Design Award at Oshkosh. It became popular, and several variants subsequently appeared. Rutan set up Scaled Composites and some of the company's later designs were also tandems. Several orders of flying insects employ tandem wings, each with its characteristic anatomy and flight modes. Insects with tandem flapping wings include

1924-474: The other to the rear. The difference is greater than the wing chord, so there is a clear gap between them and the aircraft centre of gravity (CG) lies between the wings. Compared to the conventional layout, where the tailplane exerts little or no vertical force in cruising flight, both tandem wings contribute substantially to lift. The basic tandem configuration uses wings which are equal in size and in line with each other. Examples have flown successfully, such as

1976-400: The pilot would push the stick forward to gain speed for the flare and landing. As speed built up, the rear wing, operating at a greater angle of attack would gain lift and pitch the aircraft's nose further downward. The pilot's normal reaction would be to pull back on the stick. This action would increase the angle of attack on the front wing by lowering the trailing edge of the wing. Because

2028-453: The plans appeared in 1934, many enthusiasts in Europe and the USA began to build their own aircraft. In 1936 it was estimated the cost of construction was approximately £75 and that some five hundred examples were under construction in Britain. Modern aircraft enthusiasts have continued to build their own aircraft, and vary the original HM.14 design and its derivatives over the years, and outside

2080-420: The project ended before it could be modified. The next breakthrough to manufacture came once again in the homebuilt market. Up-and-coming maverick designer Burt Rutan was working on a low-powered but highly efficient plane for home construction. The tandem layout offered a low-drag fixed undercarriage installation, by placing the main wheels in housings at the tips of the fore wing and applying anhedral to raise

2132-420: The rear wing, reducing the angle of attack (AoA) of the rear. At high aircraft AoA, this causes the front wing to stall first, allowing safer flight at low speeds than the equivalent conventional layout. It also offers good STOL performance. Tandem wings have also been used on ground-effect vehicles , where the front wing is used to direct air downwards beneath the rear wing to create a lifting air cushion. In

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2184-456: The same time as the Taupin, it became a craze, hundreds were built and variations developed in many countries. However stability issues relating to the variable front wing could lead to lethal crashes in the hands of the novice pilot, and the type eventually fell out of favour. During the late 1930s, Maurice Delanne was working on tandem-wing designs. He proposed a fighter, the Delanne 10, featuring

2236-464: The technology of the day. Other tandem approaches such as the Delanne were largely forgotten, until David Lockspeiser conceived of his Land Development Aircraft, a low-cost utility transport. It was to utilise three interchangeable wing component; one each mounted high up for the left and right rear wings, and a third fore wing mounted centrally beneath the nose. His prototype LDA-01 flew in 1971. It proved successful enough to develop for production, but

2288-408: The trailing edge of the front wing was close to the leading edge of the rear wing, the front wing's downwash would accelerate the air over the rear wing and cause it to gain lift more quickly than the front wing, resulting in an ever-increasing nose pitch-down and flight directly into the ground. Mignet had not encountered this problem during his testing of his prototype, because he could not afford

2340-527: The wings are stacked one above another, or from the canard or "tail-first" configuration where the forward surface is much smaller and does not contribute significantly to the overall lift. In aviation, tandem wings have long been experimented with, but few designs have ever been put into production. Tandem wings in nature occur only in insects and flying fish, although in the past there have been tandem-wing flying reptiles. A tandem wing configuration has two main wing planes, with one located forward and

2392-405: Was a single-seater, and had two-axis flying controls. The aircraft had a standard control stick. Fore-and-aft movement controlled the front wing's angle of attack , increasing and decreasing the lift of the wing. Because the front wing was located forward of the center of gravity , that would pitch the nose up and down. Side-to-side movement of the stick controlled the large rudder. This produced

2444-421: Was an aircraft that was substantially simpler to build (just two wings and a rudder, two of which moved, with no ailerons or other control surfaces) and easier to fly (just a control stick, no rudder pedals at all) than a conventional aircraft. Mignet claimed, only half jokingly, that anyone who could build a packing crate and drive a car could fly a Flying Flea. The HM.14 led to more than 300 different models of

2496-551: Was designed by Lillian Holden . Ace Aircraft Manufacturing Company maintains the rights to the American Flea Ship and Heath Parasol . The Triplane aircraft does not have ailerons, and uses variable incidence wings for roll control. The aircraft has been referenced under many names including; Data from Aerofiles General characteristics Performance Mignet Pou-du-Ciel The Flying Flea ( French : Pou du Ciel , lit.   'Louse of

2548-401: Was put in a high attack angle for climbing, the high-speed flow of air deflected by the front wing went to the rear wing upper surface, greatly increasing the rear wing's lift, and putting the nose down, the instinctive reaction of pilot being pulling even more the stick, this worsened the situation, as the way to go out of this 'vicious circle' was reducing the front wing incidence, as to command

2600-420: Was still offering plans for the HM.293 single-seater for sale. Data from Plane and Pilot: 1978 Aircraft Directory General characteristics Performance Tandem wing A tandem wing is a wing configuration in which a flying craft or animal has two or more sets of wings set one behind another. All the wings contribute to lift . The tandem wing is distinct from the biplane in which

2652-404: Was taking a very different approach to flight control. Intended for amateurs to build at home, his Pou-du-Ciel (flying flea) had a novel two-axis control system to make it easy to fly. No ailerons were needed because when the rudder was operated, yaw-roll coupling ensured that the plane banked into a turn. For pitch control the whole front wing tilted to act as a canard elevator. Introduced at much

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2704-470: Was the French-built Peyret tandem glider , which won the first British gliding competition in 1922. Peyret's novel control system comprised full-span trailing edge surfaces on all four wings. These operated in pairs on each side as ailerons, in pairs fore and aft as elevators, and synchronously as flaps for low-speed flight. The system proved effective and, despite the glider being less efficient than

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