A shoulder wing is a monoplane

Monoplane

A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with one main set of wing surfaces, in contrast to a biplane or triplane. Since the late 1930s it has been the most common form for a fixed wing aircraft.-Types of monoplane:...

 aircraft wing configuration in which the wing is mounted near the top of the fuselage, but not on the top.

Shoulder wing designs include a wide range of aircraft from pre-World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 airliners, World War II bombers and strike aircraft, through Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

 fighters, civil and military transports to light aircraft and gliders.

Shoulder wing on light aircraft

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. Optimally, the shoulder wing is put at the level of the pilot's eyes, to minimise any obstruction to visibility from the wing.

On a light aircraft, a shoulder-wing may need to be swept forward

Forward-swept wing

A forward-swept wing is an aircraft wing configuration in which the quarter-chord line of the wing has a forward sweep. The configuration was first proposed in 1936 by German aircraft designers.Perceived benefits of a forward-swept wing design include...

 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.

History

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

Junkers G.38

-Bibliography:* junkers.de * junkers.de - External links :* * Popular Mechanics, February 1930* article includes photo and cutaway drawing* cutaway drawing of G.38 better than 1931 article...

being an example.