https://ariadacapo.net/categories/aspects_aircraft_design/ Recent content in Aspects_aircraft_design on ariadacapo.net Hugo en Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:44:21 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-09-02-conclusions-on-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Fri, 02 Sep 2011 01:44:21 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-09-02-conclusions-on-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Last of a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Background (introductory) remarks | Course homepage. What a journey. It took many weeks to recover from teaching the course and many more to be able to look back calmly. I view the course as a success, but there are significant weaknesses I would like to address. First and foremost, the course is run at an insane pace and makes tremendous demands on the students’ energy reserves and timetable. https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-09-01-part-8-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Thu, 01 Sep 2011 11:38:10 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-09-01-part-8-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ We are almost done with a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Lecture 8 & Project 8 release notes | Course homepage. Lecture 8 — Longitudinal stability Project 8 — Designing Canards The objective of this eighth and final project was to explore the notion of longitudinal stability and the constraints it imposes on aircraft design and operation. The accompanying lecture is focused tightly on the concept of stability and the tools needed to solve the problem. https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-30-part-7-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:33:26 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-30-part-7-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ One in a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Lecture 7 & Project 7 release notes | Course homepage. Lecture 7 — Aircraft Trim Project 7 — Aircraft Trim The aim of this project was to explore the concept of longitudinal equilibrium (“trim”) in flight, and the ways in which it can or cannot be attained in practice. The lecture far exceeds what is required to solve the problem and indulges into a discussion of the design choices, pilot technique, and human interaction facets of the topic. https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-28-part-6-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:33:51 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-28-part-6-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ One in a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Lecture 6 & Project 6 release notes | Course homepage. Lecture 6 — Propulsion Project 6 — Turbofan design The aim of this project was to review the physics governing the operation of turbofan engines, as well as begin exploring a few of the many compromises associated with jet engine design and installation. The lecture reviewed the main notions needed in the project in a rather light and illustrative way. https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-24-part-5-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:53:19 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-24-part-5-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ One in a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Lecture 5 & Project 5 release notes | Course homepage. Project 5 — Wind tunnel design Lecture 5 — Scale and testing The aim of this fifth project was to work with the main fluid mechanics notions and phenomena at play in a small, subsonic wind tunnel. The accompanying lecture was a review of the important notions (theoretical flow, the effects of friction, and scaling techniques) needed to work on the project. https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-21-part-4-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Sun, 21 Aug 2011 02:34:19 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-21-part-4-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ One in a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Lecture 4 & Project 4 release notes | Course homepage. Lecture 4 — Cruise performance Project 4 — The market for winglets This project’s objectives were to explore the notions of and relations between cruise speed, fuel consumption, weight, and economics. The lecture focuses on ordinary flight mechanics. This is a very short and lightweight lecture: we focus on a simple model for the relation between lift and drag, and we derive the Breguet Range equation in class (first part of the projet). https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-19-part-3-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Fri, 19 Aug 2011 01:34:33 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-19-part-3-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ One in a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Lecture 3 & Project 3 release notes | Course homepage. Lecture 3 — Wing geometry Project 3 — Wing loads This project has the rather broad aim of studying the design of an airliner wing by integrating constraints related to aerodynamics, overall design fitness, aircraft operation, and structural efforts. Contrary to most other projects in the course the lecture’s scope exceeds what is strictly needed for solving the project problem. https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-15-part-2-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:12:49 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-15-part-2-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ One in a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Lecture 2 & Project 2 release notes | Course homepage. Lecture 2 — Runway performance Project 2 — Runway performance This lecture focuses on the tools and knowledge required to study and predict an aircraft’s performance on take-off. The project’s aims were to practice analytical techniques in Newtonian mechanics by working on an applied and highly visual aeronautical problem, and to gain familiarity with the complex operational concepts involved in a typical airliner take-off. https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-12-part-1-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Fri, 12 Aug 2011 08:17:08 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-12-part-1-of-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ One in a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Lecture 1 & Project 1 release notes | Course homepage. Lecture 1 — Basic Flight Mechanics Project 1 — Flight Domain This first lecture focuses on the notions of lift and lift coefficient as they apply to ordinary flight. The project’s aims were to explore the very peculiar way in which drag constrains flight, as well as the notions of energy and power, through the exploration of the flight domain of an aircraft. https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-11-background-on-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:36:02 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-11-background-on-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ One in a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Introduction release notes | Course homepage So how did the course go? All in all this has been the most demanding project of my short career. I significantly under-estimated the energy that would be required to run the sessions and projects. There are many reasons for this. First, for many students, lectures that were built as mere reminders and overviews mostly failed to connect with existing knowledge. https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-09-introduction-to-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ Tue, 09 Aug 2011 09:21:01 +0000 https://ariadacapo.net/articles/2011-08-09-introduction-to-aspects-of-aircraft-design-and-control/ First of a series of posts about an aeronautical engineering course I created this year. Introduction release notes | Course homepage I created this course on Aspects of Aircraft Design and Control when my proposal to use a 48-hour slot in the third year of the aerospace engineering curriculum was accepted. The slot was dedicated to group work and projects rather than formal lectures. The acceptance came as an opportunity for me both to study further a number of topics that I found captivating, and to try to share my passion for civilian aeronautics with students I particularly appreciate.