Mechanics of Flight

Modeling theory, aircraft 6DOF simulation, flight dynamics, flight simulators and aircraft certification

This new textbook is based on a successful 15-year approach to teaching aircraft flight mechanics at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Intended for junior-level students presented with the material for the first time, the book clearly explains all the concepts and derivations of equations for aircraft flight mechanics. The material progresses through aircraft performance, static stability, aircraft dynamic stability, and feedback control. The chapters present real world applications and contain problems.

Aeronautical Principles and Practices

Flight mechanics is the application of Newton's laws to the study of vehicle trajectories (performance), stability, and aerodynamic control. This text is concerned with the derivation of analytical solutions of airplane flight mechanics problems associated with flight in a vertical plane. Algorithms are presented for calculating lift, drag, pitching moment, and stability derivatives. Flight mechanics is a discipline.

It has been great fun to write this book, even though it has taken longer than planned, and occasionally been exasperating. The most difficult problem was deciding what to exclude among so many interesting things, because the available material usually exceeded the space. Because a book like this covers so many aspects, each component must be limited. This book is intended for graduate and undergraduate students as well as professional scientists who want to work with animal flight or to gain some insight into flight mechanics, aerodynamics, energetics, physiology, morpho­ logy, ecology and evolution. My aim has not been to give the whole mathe­ matical explanation of flight, but to provide an outline and summary of the main theories for the understanding of how aerofoils respond to an airflow. I also hope to give the reader some insight into how flight morphology and the various wing shapes have evolved and are adapted to different ecological niches and habitats.

It has been great fun to write this book, even though it has taken longer than planned, and occasionally been exasperating. The most difficult problem was deciding what to exclude among so many interesting things, because the available material usually exceeded the space. Because a book like this covers so many aspects, each component must be limited. This book is intended for graduate and undergraduate students as well as professional scientists who want to work with animal flight or to gain some insight into flight mechanics, aerodynamics, energetics, physiology, morpho­ logy, ecology and evolution. My aim has not been to give the whole mathe­ matical explanation of flight, but to provide an outline and summary of the main theories for the understanding of how aerofoils respond to an airflow. I also hope to give the reader some insight into how flight morphology and the various wing shapes have evolved and are adapted to different ecological niches and habitats.