Biplane

An airplane with two sets of wings, one on top of the other.

Historically the biplane configuration was used as it improves the bending stiffness of the wing that was otherwise difficult to achieve in early monoplane designs. Struts were used to maintain the angle between the upper and lower surfaces and wire braces used to tie the whole structure together.

The biplane was also used for some years as the design solution for high strength, lightweight and compact aerobatic aircraft.

See also: Aircraft, Monoplane, Triplane.

Weblinks:

glue-it.co.uk Photographic reference material.