Canard Advantage
Copyright ©2016 by Paul Niquette. All rights reserved.

In the sketches below one sees a wide-body twin engine airliner, the Boeing 767, along with a rather strange-looking configuration featuring a canard near the nose instead of the horizontal stabilizer and elevator in the empennage at the tail...

767 with canard

Why would anyone want to do that?

There must be a good reason, for we find that throughout the history of aviation, the Canard Configuration has been more popular than most people think.  To answer the question and thus solve the Canard Advantage puzzle, solvers might begin by studying seventy canard aircraft...


1902

Wright Glider

1977

Aviafiber Canard 2FL

1903

Wright Flyer

1977

MacCready Gossamer Condor

1904

Archdeacon Glider

1978

Rutan Defiant

1906

Santos-Dumont 14-bis

1979

MacCready Gossamer Albatross

1907

Blériot V

1979

Rutan Long-EZ

1908

AEA June Bug

1980

ALR Piranha

1908

Roe I Biplane

1980

Pterodactyl Ascender

1909

ASL monoplane No.1

1981

Dassault Mirage III

1910

ASL monoplane No.2

1981

OMAC Laser 300

1910

ASL Valkyrie

1981

Rutan Amsoil Racer

1910

Fabre Hydravion

1982

Cozy III

1911

Besson canard

1982

Rutan Solitaire

1911

Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.1

1984

Avtek 400

1911

Voisin Canard

1984

Grumman X-29

1927

Focke-Wulf F 19

1986

Atlas Cheetah

1928

Lippisch Ente

1986

Beech Starship

1932

Focke-Wulf Fw 42

1986

Dassault Rafale

1938

Beltrame Colibri

1986

IAI Lavi

1939

Ambrosini SS.4

1986

Rutan Voyager

1942

Lockheed L-133

1988

Saab JAS 39 Gripen

1943

Curtiss-Wright XP-55 Ascender

1989

AASI Jetcruzer

1945

Kyūshū J7W1 Shinden

1989

Berkut 360

1945

Messerschmitt P.1110 Ente

1990

Rockwell-MBB X-31

1945

MiG-8 Utka

1990

Scaled Composites ARES

1953

North American X-10

1991

Junqua Ibis

1957

Avro 730

1991

Novi Avion

1957

North American SM-64 Navaho

1993

Cozy MK IV

1964

North American XB-70 Valkyrie

1994

Eurofighter Typhoon

1967

Saab 37 Viggen

1995

Velocity SE

1968

Tupolev Tu-144

1998

Chengdu J-10

1972

Rutan VariViggen

2007

Freedom Aviation Phoenix

1972

Sukhoi T-4

2009

Shenyang J-15

1974

IAI Kfir C2

2011

Chengdu J-20

   1975

Chengdu J-9

2013

e-Go

1975

Rutan VariEze

2013

Qaher-313


On the other hand, sophisticated solvers might analyze the forces acting on an aircraft in flight.

force comparison

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Solution