| Shoulder wing | |
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| An ARV Super2 with a shoulder-wing. |
A shoulder wing (a category between high-wing and mid-wing) is a monoplane aircraft wing configuration in which the wing is mounted near the top of the fuselage, but not on the top.[1]
Shoulder wing designs include a wide range of aircraft from pre-World War II airliners, World War II bombers and strike aircraft, through Cold War fighters, civil and military transports to light aircraft and gliders.
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The shoulder wing has particular advantages for smaller aircraft with a canopied cockpit, in that it gives the pilot unrestricted forward visibility, especially prior to and and during turns.[2] Optimally, the shoulder wing is put at the level of the pilot's eyes, to minimise any obstruction to visibility from the wing.[3]
On a light aircraft, a shoulder-wing may need to be swept forward to maintain CoG. A shoulder wing is like a high-wing, in producing a pendulous fuselage requiring no wing dihedral and its limited ground effect reduces float on landing.
In the 1920s the term "shoulder decker" was applied in Germany to note a monoplane where the wing was attached near the top longerons; the Junkers G.38 being an example.[4]
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