This book contains a synthesis of the fundamental disciplines and applications involved in the description and analysis of aircraft flight. It covers introductions into the fields of atmospheric properties, applied aerodynamics, aircraft propulsion, flight performance, and stability and control. Since it emphasizes the practical side of flight physics, attention is duly paid to the historical development of aviation and specific aeronautical technologies.

The present text emphasizes the connection of all relevant aeronautical disciplines by presenting a carefully selected set of interrelated subjects. Most of these are treated by definitions of elementary concepts, descriptions of the various physical phenomena and mathematical derivations. Wherever possible and useful, explanations have been further clarified by including graphical illustrations, numerical examples and photographs.

The main body of the text applies to aircraft operating at fairly low speeds, where the compressibility of the atmospheric air is of secondary importance. A separate chapter is devoted to flight speeds approaching and exceeding the speed of sound. The large variety of existing aircraft categories has been narrowed down to (fixed-wing) aeroplanes with conventional take-off and landing performances. Elements of helicopter flight are reviewed in a separate chapter.

To encourage further reading, all nine chapters include a comprehensive list of related publications.

Klappentext

Knowledge is not merely everything we have come to know, but also ideas we have pondered long enough to know in which way they are related, and 1 how these ideas can be put to practical use. Modern aviation has been made possible as a result of much scienti c - search. However, the very rst useful results of this research became ava- able a considerable length of time after the aviation pioneers had made their rst ights. Apparently, researchers were not able to nd an adequate exp- nation for the occurrence of lift until the beginning of the 21st century. Also, for the fundamentals of stability and control, there was no theory available that the pioneers could rely on. Only after the rst motorized ights had been successfully made did researchers become more interested in the science of aviation, which from then on began to take shape. In modern day life, many millions of passengers are transported every year by air. People in the western societies take to the skies, on average, several times a year. Especially in areas surrounding busy airports, travel by plane has been on the rise since the end of the Second World War. Despite becoming familiar with the sight of a jumbo jet commencing its ight once or twice a day, many nd it astonishing that such a colossus with a mass of several hundred thousands of kilograms can actually lift off from the ground.

Inhalt

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 Pitchingmoment 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