Aircraft Design Concepts: An Introductory Course

Aircraft Design Concepts: An Introductory Course introduces the principles of aircraft design through a quantitative approach developed from the author’s extensive experience in teaching aircraft design. Building on prerequisite courses, the text develops basic design skills and methodologies, while also explaining the underlying physics.

The book uses a historical approach to examine a wide range of aircraft types and their design. Numerous charts, photos, and illustrations are provided for in-depth view of aeronautical engineering. It addresses conventional tail-aft monoplanes, “flying-wing”, biplane, and canard configurations. Providing detailed analysis of propeller performance, the book starts with simple blade-element theory and builds to the Weick method.

Written for senior undergraduate and graduate students taking a single-semester course on Aircraft Design or Aircraft Performance, the book imparts both the technical knowledge and creativity needed for aircraft design.