This textbook gives an introduction, with extensive historical notes, to the principal disciplines of aeronautics. The principles of applied aerodynamics, aircraft propulsion, flight performances, stability and control of conventional subsonic aircraft are augmented by overviews of helicopter technology and high speed flight. Overviews of the history of aviation and basic aeronautical terms are followed by descriptions of the major disciplines involved in aircraft flight mechanics. These are discussed in five chapters dealing with low speed aerodynamic properties (lift and drag) of wings, aircraft engines and propulsion, performances, and stability and control of aircraft. The last two chapters deal with helicopter aerodynamics and flight mechanics, and complications of high speed (transonic and supersonic) flight. In order to keep the introductory character there is an equal amount of basic formulas and explanatory text. Although problems and their solutions are not presented, there are plenty of opportunities for lecturers to extract material for practicing and examination.

Table of Contents

Preface; 1 History of Aviation; 1.1 Introduction; 1.2 Early history and the invention of ballooning; 1.3 The period between 1799 and 1870; 1.4 The decades between 1870 and 1890; 1.5 From 1890 until the Wright Flyer III; 1.6 European aviation between 1906 and 1918; 1.7 Aviation between the world wars; 1.8 Development after 1940; Bibliography; 2 Introduction to Atmospheric Flight; 2.1 Flying -- How is that possible?; 2.2 Static and dynamic aviation; 2.3 Forces on the aeroplane; 2.4 Lift, drag and thrust; 2.5 Properties of air; 2.6 The earth's atmosphere; 2.7 The standard atmosphere; 2.8 Atmospheric flight; Bibliography; 3 Low-Speed Aerodynamics; 3.1 Speed domains and compressibility; 3.2 Basic concepts; 3.3 Equations for steady flow; 3.4 Viscous flows; 3.5 The boundary layer; 3.6 Flow separation and drag; 3.7 Shape and scale effects on drag; Bibliography; 4 Lift and Drag at Low Speeds; 4.1 Function and shape of aeroplane wings; 4.2 Aerofoil sections; 4.3 Circulation and lift; 4.4 Aerofoil section properties; 4.5 Wing geometry; 4.6 High-aspect ratio straight wings; 4.7 Low-aspect ratio wings; 4.8 The whole aircraft; Bibliography; 5 Aircraft Engines and Propulsion; 5.1 History of engine development; 5.2 Fundamentals of reaction propulsion; 5.3 Engine efficiency and fuel consumption; 5.4 Piston engines in aviation; 5.5 Gas turbine engine components; 5.6 Non-reheated turbojet and turbofan engines; 5.7 Turboprop and turboshaft engines; 5.8 Gas turbine engine operation; 5.9 Propeller performance; Bibliography; 6 Aeroplane Performance; 6.1 Introduction; 6.2 Airspeed and altitude; 6.3 Equations of motion for symmetric flight; 6.4 Steady straight and level flight; 6.5 Climb and descent; 6.6 Gliding flight; 6.7 Cruising flight; 6.8 Take-off and landing; 6.9 Horizontal steady turn; 6.10 Manoeuvre and gust loads; Bibliography; 7 Stability and Control; 7.1 Flying qualities; 7.2 Elementary concepts and definitions; 7.3 Tail surfaces and flight control; 7.4 Pitching moment of aerofoils; 7.5 Static longitudinal stability; 7.6 Dynamic longitudinal stability; 7.7 Longitudinal control; 7.8 Static lateral stability; 7.9 Dynamic lateral stability; 7.10 Lateral control; 7.11 Stalling and spinning; Bibliography; 8 Helicopter Flight Mechanics; 8.1 Helicopter general arrangements; 8.2 Hovering flight; 8.3 The rotor in level flight; 8.4 Flight performance; 8.5 Stability and control; Bibliography; 9 High-Speed Flight; 9.1 Complications due to the compressibility of air; 9.2 Compressible flow relationships; 9.3 Speed of sound and Mach number; 9.4 Flow in a channel; 9.5 Shock waves and expansion flows; 9.6 High-subsonic speed; 9.7 Transonic speed; 9.8 Supersonic speed; 9.9 Supersonic propulsion; 9.10 Performance and operation; Bibliography; A Units and Dimensions; B Principles of Aerostatics; Index

Reviews

From the reviews: "This book was translated from the Dutch textbook Aeronautiek (2002) and then edited by the translators, one of whom is the senior author of the current work. It is an expansion of lecture material used by both Torenbeek and Wittenberg to instruct freshmen aerospace engineers at the Technical University of Delft from 1970 to 2000. ! The work is useful to aeronautical engineering students as a good reference and as an adjunct to their course textbooks. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and graduate students." (A. M. Strauss, Choice, Vol. 47 (5), January, 2010)