AERODYNAMICS, AERONAUTICS, AND FLIGHT MECHANICS

An airplane, whether it is a sleek, modern jet or a Piper Cub, is a thing of beauty, supported almost miraculously by the invisible medium through which it travels. As an aeronautical engineer and a pilot, the beauty of flight is a pleasure I hope always to enjoy. One of my favourite poems is “High Flight,” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr., a young RAF pilot killed during World War II. Although it is unusual to include a poem in a preface, I must break convention because this poem expresses my thoughts better than I can.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth _

Of sun-split cloudffland done a hundred things

You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung

High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,

I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue I’ve topped the windswept heights with easy grace

Where never lark, or even eagle flew.

And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod

The high untrespassed sanctity of space,

Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

^ This book explains the many technical aspects of flight; the title reflects $8 contents. Beginning with the fundamentals of incompressible and com – gpssible flows, aerodynamic principles relating to lift, drag, and thrust are |p&veloped. Two-dimensional airfoils and three-dimensional wings with high low aspect ratios are treated for subsonic and supersonic flows.

The operating characteristics of different types of aircraft power plants, including normally aspirated and supercharged-piston engines, turboprops, turbojets, and turbofans, are presented in some detail. Typical operating curves are given for specific engines within these classes. A fairly complete treatment of propellers is also included.

This information, which is necessary for estimating the aerodynamic characteristics of an airplane, is followed by a presentation of methods for calculating airplane performance; items such as takeoff distance, climb rates and times, range payload curves, and landing distances, are discussed.

Finally, the subjects of longitudinal and lateral-directional stability and control, both static and dynamic, are introduced. Because this book is intended for use in a first course in these subjects, it covers only open-loop control.

Features of this textbook include material on the prop-fan, winglets, high lift devices, cooling and trim drag, the latest NASA airfoils, criteria for providing satisfactory open-loop flying qualities, and the use of the SI and English systems of units. Practical examples are given for most developments and, in many cases, are applied to currently operating airplane-engine com­binations. Some numerical treatments of aerodynamic problems and the use of the analog computer for examining longitudinal and lateral dynamic behavior are also introduced. Considerable data are provided relating to lift, drag, and thrust predictions. Stability and control data and performance data on a number of presently operating aircraft are found throughout the book.

Since each subject is developed from first principles, it can be used as a text for a first course in aerodynamics at the junior level. It also can be used in successive courses in compressible flow, airplane performance, and stabil­ity and control as either the primary text or as a reference. At least half of the material in the book is at the senior level of most aerospace engineering programs.

Obviously a book of this nature could not have been written without the help and cooperation of many individuals and organizations. I especially thank Pratt & Whitney and Pratt & Whitney of Canada for the performance curves on their engines; Avco-Lycoming for information on cooling drag and reciprocating engines; Cessna for the data pertaining to the performance of the Citation I; and Piper for their support of this effort in many ways. My friends and acquaintances with these fine companies who helped personally are too numerous to mention. They know who they are, and I am grateful to them.

I am indebted to my secretaries, Charlotte Weldon, and Sharon Symanovich, who typed the manuscript, for a job well done. Their correction of mistakes and their patience with my penmanship and the other trying aspects of preparing the manuscript are sincerely appreciated.

I prepared the manuscript on evenings, weekends and, when I could find the time, during the day at The Pennsylvania State University. This meant many lonely evenings and weekends for my wife, Emily, so I offer my appreciation for her indulgence, patience, and understanding.

Barnes W. McCormick, Jr.