Tandem wing — dimension sheet
Source: Xem Studio, https://xemstudio.com/objects/tandem-wing/  (sheet CC BY 4.0; files Xem Studio Design License, https://xemstudio.com/license/)
Basis: Design rules and figures from the cited sources; example geometry by Xem Studio
Catalog version: 2026-10-20

Sizes: see table below
- A tandem wing uses two lifting wings in line. The front wing gives pitch control and should stall first, which naturally limits angle of attack, comparable to a Rutan canard (Kitplanes, Flying Flea analysis).
- The Mignet HM.14 Flying Flea suffered fatal tuck-under dives; Baynes argued c.g. positions 'farther aft than 40% chord of the forward wing' made it unstable, and the vertical c.g. position added nonlinearity (Kitplanes).
- Once the c.g. was moved forward the rear wing carried little load; the Abbott-Baynes Cantilever Pou had a front wing almost twice the rear's area and was better seen as 'a monoplane with a large tail' (Kitplanes).
- Used on: Mignet HM.14 Pou-du-Ciel (Flying Flea), Abbott-Baynes Cantilever Pou, Mignet HM.293.
- 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.

parameter  value or range  source
C.g. limit cited for the Flea  not aft of 40% chord of the forward wing  Kitplanes (Baynes)
Cantilever Pou front/rear wing area  front almost 2x rear  Kitplanes
Fatal Flea accidents  at least 7 (possibly 11)  Kitplanes
Reference build  rear surface 300 x 60 mm at 500 mm (front wing is main wing)  illustrative

Files elsewhere (not hosted by Xem Studio; license as stated by the publisher):
- Kitplanes (B. Wainfan): Wind Tunnel: More Flying Fleas (2017) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts — https://www.kitplanes.com/wind-tunnel-65/
- NASA Langley (D. Satran): Wind-Tunnel Investigation of the Flight Characteristics of a Canard General-Aviation Airplane Configuration, NASA TP-2623 (1986) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts — https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19870000606/downloads/19870000606.pdf

Free files (Xem Studio Design License, Xem Studio; STEP + STL, 1 parts): https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/tandem-wing/index.json
API: https://xemstudio.com/api/geometry?object=tandem-wing