questions on multi-wing planforms

"pTooner" wrote in message
...

"Drew Dalgleish" wrote in message
...
Even if everything works just the way you dream it will how will you
see where you're going?

You are assuming a far more complete design than actually exists, but I
don't see why that should be a problem.

Gerry
I am fairly certain that tandem biplane designs existed in the early
days--in addition to the obvious case of the Wright Flyer.

However, I will second the suggestion to stay with one of the various
folding wing designs. Also, unless you are *very* masochistic, you probably
won't fly very ofter if you also have to tow the aircraft to and from the
airport, so the ability to be towed at highway speeds (or even street
speeds) may not be as usefull as the ease of folding and unfolding the
wings. I would suggest asking around your local airport(s) regarding the
storage cost for a folding wing aircraft--you may be able to share part of a
hangar or even get a reasonable deal from a maintenance facility if they
have permission to move the plane out of the way when they need the
workspace. Also, the way Tee-hangars are constructed at some airports,
there may be a half hangar on the end of each row--and a folding wing
airplane would only need about half of a half hangar!

BTW, depending on the size of the Tee hangars on the row, you might be able
to nose a VariEze or even a LongEze into a half hangar and still share the
back part of the hangar for storage or office space--depending on the rules
at your airport.

Also the Nesmith Cougar has a folding wing, and if you are of very small
stature there is the Stits Playmate.

I hope this helps
Peter

"pTooner" wrote in message
. ..
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