**Abstract**

The paper presents results obtained by the author for wing-body interference. The lift-curve slopes of the wing-body combinations are considered. A 2D potential model for cross-flow around the fuselage and a discrete vortex method (DVM) are used. Flat wings of various forms and the circular and elliptical cross sections of the fuselage are considered. It was found that the value of the lift-curve slopes of the wing-body combinations may exceed the same value for an isolated wing. An experimental and theoretical data obtained by other authors earlier confirm this result. Investigations to optimize the wing-body combination were carried within the framework of the proposed model. It was revealed that the maximums of the lift-curve slopes for the optimal midwing configuration with elliptical cross-section body had a sufficiently large relative width (more than 30% of the span wing). The advantage of the wing-fuselage combination with a circular cross section over an isolated wing for wing aspect ratio greater than 6 can reach 7.5% at the relative diameter of fuselage equal to approximately 0.2.

**Keywords:** wing-fuselage combination, lift-curve slope, discrete vortex method, 2D potential cross-flow model, optimization
