Introduction to Aeronautics - A Practical Perspective

COURSE DESCRIPTION and MATERIALS: After taking this short course, you will never look at an airplane the same way again! Using design as a common thread, this course answers questions such as: high wing placement or low — swept or unswept? One vertical stabilizer or two? Canard or conventional configuration? Turbofan or turbojet? Packed full of examples, you will graduate with a solid understanding of the basics of aeronautics and the give-and-take inherent to aircraft design. You’ll also gain an appreciation for the aircraft as a collection of subsystems … a “collection” that must be successfully integrated for the aircraft to accomplish its mission. A “field trip” to a local air museum (where practical) will bring the concepts home! With clear lesson objectives, the key aspects of aeronautics are presented: 

• Low and High-Speed Aerodynamics > Lift — Sources of Drag – Stall — Mach Number Effects — Designing for Speed
• Stability and Control > Ailerons, Elevator, and Rudder — Designing for Roll, Pitch, and Yaw Stability
• Structures > Ribs, Spars, and Pressure Bulkheads — G-Loading — Landing Gear — Flight “Envelope”
• Propulsion Systems > Propellers to SCRAMjets — Piston and Gas Turbine Engines — Airframe & Engine Integration
• Aircraft Performance > Thrust Curves, Range and Endurance, Glides, Climbs, Takeoffs and Landings, and Turns

While the focus is clearly on conventional airplanes, discussions will include other air vehicles, including airships, RPVs, helicopters, and stealth, hypersonic, and micro-air vehicles. You will be given a set of course notes and an accompanying text. 3.2 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) are awarded.