pTooner wrote:
Firstly, I am new here although I've been reading for a few days. For
anyone with more knowledge than I, I keep considering building a small 4
wing aircraft. Not stacked, but two up front and two in the rear. I have
read frequently of problems supposedly resulting from interference of the
airflow between wings, but I can't seem to find anything very specific. I'm
fairly confident that interference between the front wings (or rear) can be
minimized by reasonable spacing and differing dihedral. I'm not sure what
the effect of the airflow coming off the front wings will have on the rear
set. I don't know whether I could remove most of the problem by having one
set considerably higher (how much?) than the other set or if it is
reasonable to have them on more or less the same height. The reason for
the concept is trying to get a wingspan small enough to fit into a normal
garage and conceivably take off and land from streets and highways. I
visualise something in a two place plane that would fall into something of
the appeal category of a motorcycle or small sports car. Any thoughts would
be appreciated.

Gerry
Gerry! Look up the Stinton reference I gave you, read it over a bunch
of times 'til you start getting an idea of how spacing and stagger
would affect the wing placement. Then keep in mind, this is
Experimental aviation! Try your idea in a large model; see how that
works. But don't let the nay-sayers keep you from experimenting.
There's no progress in building the same thing over and over. Your
creation doesn't have to be the most efficient thing out there. All
designs call for some compromises! Good experimenting!