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monoplane Louis Blériot standing before his Type XI monoplane, which he flew across the English Channel on July 25, 1909.
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monoplane
monoplane Monoplane built by Trajan Vuia, 1906.

monoplane

aircraft
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monoplane, type of aircraft with a single pair of wings. The monoplane design has been nearly universally adopted over multiplane configurations because airflow interference between adjacent wings reduces efficiency. The first monoplane was constructed by the Romanian inventor Trajan Vuia, who made a flight of 12 m (40 feet) on March 18, 1906. Louis Blériot of France built a monoplane in 1907 and flew it across the English Channel two years later. Monoplane design proved itself conclusively during World War II, and since then the craft has completely supplanted the biplane except for special purposes. Compare biplane.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.