Configuration Aerodynamics
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William H. Mason, Blacksburg, VA
Pradeep Raj, Blacksburg, VA
Copyright Year:
Publisher: Virginia Tech Publishing
Language: English
Formats Available
Conditions of Use
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
CC BY-NC-SA
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction to Configuration Aerodynamics
- 2. Fluid Mechanics Foundations: Governing Equations
- 3. Fundamentals of Aerodynamic Drag
- 4. Overview of Configuration Aerodynamic Design and the Use of Computational Aerodynamics
- 5. Subsonic Aerodynamics of Airfoils and Wings
- 6. Transonic Aerodynamics of Airfoils and Wings
- 7. High-Lift Aerodynamics
- 8. High Angle of Attack (Hi-α) Aerodynamics
- 9. Supersonic Aerodynamics
- 10. Hypersonic Aerodynamics
- 11. End note
- Appendix A. Geometry for Aerodynamicists
- Appendix B. Fifteen Minutes of Stealth in Aircraft Design
- Appendix C. FAR and Mil Requirements Affecting Configuration Aerodynamics
- Appendix D. Examples of Aerodynamic Design
- Appendix E. Software for Aerodynamics and Aircraft Design
- Appendix F. Configuration Aerodynamics Reading List
- Appendix G. The Configuration Aerodynamicist's Bookshelf
About the Book
Practical applications of aerodynamic theory are critically important for aerodynamic design of aircraft configurations, but are often omitted from aerospace engineering curricula. Lecture Notes on Configuration Aerodynamics is an incredible resource for educating the next generation of aerospace engineering students who aspire to engage in the aerodynamic design of aircraft configurations. It shows how aerodynamic theory is applied in practice, giving students insight into what a career in aerodynamics entails. This open textbook offers a design-oriented perspective of the development and analysis of aircraft aerodynamics.
Based on his academic experience as a professor and his industrial experience at Grumman, Mason presents decades of relevant knowledge and wisdom of a large number of exceptional researchers and practicing engineers. Extensive references throughout the book encourage further study of configuration aerodynamics.
This book encompasses the aerodynamic design of flight vehicles with emphasis on flow fields and configuration concepts. Mason covers methodologies for aerodynamic analysis and design for flows ranging from low speed to high speed and includes case studies of classic configurations.
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About the Contributors
Author
William H. Mason (1947-2019) developed a deep passion for airplanes quite early in his life. Growing up in southwest Virginia, he spent countless hours building and flying model airplanes as a teenager. When he was an undergraduate student at Virginia Tech, he seized upon the opportunities for gaining practical experience during summers working at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, Missouri, on various F-4 aircraft projects including the ‘swing wing’ F-4, and at the Edwards Air Force Base, California, on the U.S. Army Huey Cobra helicopters. In 1974, he began his 15-year professional aerospace engineering career with Grumman, and made valuable contributions to many high-profile projects. Examples include: (i) the X-29, an experimental aircraft with a forward-swept wing and canard; (ii) the NASA/Grumman Research Fighter Configuration with supercruise and maneuvering capabilities; and (iii) the SC3 Wing Concept which set a record for low drag at high-lift supersonic performance. From 1989 until his passing in 2019, he was a dedicated educator at Virginia Tech. Right after returning to VT in 1989, he devoted himself to sharing his knowledge and insights with students and colleagues. His legacy lives on with a large number of students who either took the courses he offered in aircraft design; applied computational aerodynamics; and configuration aerodynamics or performed research in aerospace systems design and multidisciplinary optimization. He co-authored Applied Computational Aerodynamics: A Modern Engineering Approach—one of the first textbooks for undergraduates—published by Cambridge University Press in 2015. He also authored or co-authored more than 100 technical papers and reports. He was a lifelong Hokie having earned his B.S. degree in 1971, a M.S. in 1972, and a Ph.D. in 1975, all in aerospace engineering from Virginia Tech. Mason was an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Editor
Pradeep Raj is a Collegiate Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech (VT) after 12 years of serving as a faculty advisor of student capstone aircraft design teams and conducting collaborative research in simulation driven design to enable development of quality affordable aerial vehicles. He joined VT in 2012 after 32 years (1979-2011) with Lockheed Martin, a premier aerospace and defense corporation. For the first 20 years there, he held key technical leadership positions and made noteworthy contributions to advancing the effectiveness of computational simulation capabilities for meeting aircraft design needs. For the next 12 years, he held executive leadership and management positions before retiring from the Advanced Development Programs organization commonly known as the Skunk Works® which is world renowned for creating breakthrough technologies and landmark aircraft. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and of the Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS). He earned a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1976 after earning a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering and a bachelor’s in electrical technology, both from Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India.