# Mid wing placement

> What are the advantages of a mid-mounted wing?

- Category: Aircraft design › Wing planforms
- Kind: Standard part
- Basis: Design rules and figures from the cited sources; example geometry by Xem Studio
- Page: https://xemstudio.com/objects/mid-wing/ · JSON: https://xemstudio.com/api/geometry?object=mid-wing · Plain text: https://xemstudio.com/objects/mid-wing/sheet.txt
- License: dimension sheet CC BY 4.0 (Xem Studio); files Xem Studio Design License (free to use and sell from, not to redistribute as files: https://xemstudio.com/license/)
- Use in every chat: add https://xemstudio.com/mcp as a connector (https://xemstudio.com/use-with-ai/)

**Exact dimensions.** True size, with no printing tolerance added.

## Notes

- A mid wing meets the fuselage at right angles, which wind-tunnel reports favoured for low interference drag (US Naval Institute, Corsair design history).
- With ailerons, McCombs recommends 'essentially 0 deg' effective dihedral for mid-wing and biplane RC models, and 7-8 deg for rudder-only mid-wing models (Model Aviation). That near-neutral roll response suits aerobatic aircraft (Kitplanes).
- A mid wing's spar crosses the fuselage, which can be awkward; the Corsair's designers avoided a long, heavy landing gear by bending the wing instead (USNI).
- The file is a reference example built by Xem Studio from the numbers above. Sizes the sources do not fix are illustrative; scale the example to your own vehicle.

## Sizes

| parameter | value or range | source |
|---|---|---|
| RC with ailerons, mid wing | essentially 0 deg | McCombs 1994 |
| RC rudder-only, mid wing | about 7-8 deg | McCombs 1994 |
| FF scale, mid wing EVD | 0-5 deg | McCombs 1994 |
| Reference build | 1000 x 200 mm, 0 deg dihedral | McCombs |

## Where the files are

- US Naval Institute, Naval History Magazine: [Designing the Bent-Wing Bird (Feb 1995)](https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/1995/february/designing-bent-wing-bird) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
- Model Aviation (AMA), W.F. McCombs: [Wing and Tail Dihedral for Models (Dec 1994)](https://library.modelaviation.com/article/wing-and-tail-dihedral-models) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
- Kitplanes (B. Wainfan): [Wind Tunnel: Roll's role in lateral stability (2008)](https://www.kitplanes.com/wind-tunnel-135/) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts

## Free STEP/STL (1 parts, Xem Studio Design License, Xem Studio)

Index: https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/mid-wing/index.json · license: https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/mid-wing/LICENSE.md

- mid-wing-wing: [STEP](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/mid-wing/mid-wing-wing.step) · [STL](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/mid-wing/mid-wing-wing.stl) — rectangular planform: span 1000, root 200, tip 200 mm, LE sweep 0°, dihedral 0°, NACA 0012

## Questions

**Why do aerobatic RC planes use mid wings and no dihedral?**

Near-neutral roll stability gives crisp, uncoupled rolls (Kitplanes; McCombs gives ~0 deg).

## Fits with

- [Rectangular (constant-chord) wing](https://xemstudio.com/objects/rectangular-wing/)
- [Tapered wing (taper ratio for minimum induced drag)](https://xemstudio.com/objects/tapered-wing/)
- [Elliptical wing](https://xemstudio.com/objects/elliptical-wing/)
- [Swept-back wing](https://xemstudio.com/objects/swept-wing/)
- [Forward-swept wing](https://xemstudio.com/objects/forward-swept-wing/)
- [Delta wing](https://xemstudio.com/objects/delta-wing/)