RTFM Aircraft ~ Home of the Tiny Cedar Flea

The above  set of sketches illustrate three wing configurations.  The first is what is called a Nanadovic config, in which both wings are fixed.  Prof Nanadovic was a professor at Belgrade University’s Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.  His research was in determining the optimal biplane wing configuration.  He found that “one can see improvements over a monoplane of the same profile of 25% less drag, 15% more lift, and 51% better speed range.”

The Flying Flea configuration (2nd sketch) has a pivoting front wing, with a fixed rear wing.  Generally, the rear wing is set at a 6 deg incidence, because that is the angle of the airflow off the rear of the front wing (at max deflection)

Finally, the Pulga – a design by Jean de la Farge in Argentina a one-time collaborator and partner of Mignet.  He pivoted both wings, and while achieving significantly increased lift, he also experienced significant nose-over torque.  So he added a third wing on top of the tail to counter this.

In all of these designs, the basic wing positioning is the same:  front wing at 30% chord above the rear, and with close to zero horisontal gap between the wings.  What is different is in the articulation (or lack of it) between the flying surfaces.

From my perspective, the Tiny Cedar Flea will provide a very suitable experimental platform because it conforms to the basic wing layout, of all three designs, and with some creative control linkages, could be made to conform to the Nanadovic (fix both wings in place), the Flying Flea (allow the front wing only to pivot) and the Pulga (allow both wings to pivot)

I plan to build a 25% scale model of the Tiny Cedar Flea and try all three configs to compare flight characteristics.