The aircraft had a long history of alterations, but as first built it had a short square-section wire-braced wood fuselage, with the engine mounted on top in front of the leading edge of the lower wing, with the pilot's seat behind it. A pair of V struts at the front carried two wheels on an axle, and a tailwheel was mounted at the back. This was augmented by small wheels mounted on the leading edge on the lower wingtips. The wings had wooden spars at the leading and trailing edges and had an arrangement for altering the camber when on the ground by means of tensioned wires between the spars. The wings were connected by streamlined interplane struts, some wind-tunnel experiments on strut sections having been carried out at Farnborough. Lateral control was to be achieved using a pair of small ailerons mounted above the leading edge of the lower wing. The forward-mounted elevator was mounted on three sets of bamboo booms attached to sockets on the leading edge of the wings, the lower members sloping steeply upwards so that the surfaces were just below the level of the upper wing. These could be operated in conjunction to act as elevators as well as assisting in the lateral control of the aircraft. A single rectangular rudder was mounted between two booms, the upper attached to the centre of the rear spar and the lower to the rear of the fuselage. A large canvas triangle was stretched between the trailing edge of the upper wing and the end of the upper tail boom. A small fixed vertical surface was also mounted above the upper wing.