Many people are aware—consciously or instinctively—that the world’s first successful powered aircraft flight took place in a biplane. The Wright Flyer, first flown at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in 1903, had two wings stacked on top of each other rather than one. 

While the Wright Brothers were the first to take the biplane design into powered flight, they were not the first to tinker with the concept. In fact, the biplane design predates powered flight itself. As far back as the early 1800s, Sir George Cayley was experimenting with gliders involving multiple wing surfaces.

The biplane concept would peak during the First World War, when biplanes proved to be the dominant aircraft design used in the war. By the time of the Second World War, however, the biplane’s popularity would decline in favor of faster monoplanes, marching a steady decline into increasing obscurity. However, the biplane endures in a number of niche roles—aerobatics, agricultural functions, historical preservation, and more.

Two Wings Are........

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