Aircraft Design Textbooks

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Dan Raymer's book Aircraft Design - A Conceptual Approach is a classic textbook.

For a more accessible layman's introduction to combat aircraft design in particular I like

Ray Whitford's Design for Air Combat
Klaus Huenecke's Modern Combat Aircraft Design

Both are light on maths but give a good overview.

 

[icyplanetnhc (Steve)]

I am fond of Leland Nicolai’s Fundamentals of Aircraft and Airship Design, and made quite extensive use of it in college.

There’s also Egbert Torenbeek’s Synthesis of Subsonic Airplane Design

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

I had Fundamentals of Aircraft and Airship Design during my abortive 18 months studying Aeronautical Engineering. Didn't keep it - but them I threw out loads of aircraft books at that time.

 

[icyplanetnhc (Steve)]

Oof, I would have happily given those books a home. I actually never discarded any of my textbooks. They’re expensive, sure, but the knowledge inside is priceless.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

I left my degree convinced engineering was wrong for me, and determined I was going to study English and be a poet or a writer or something, so I dumped all my aviation stuff in a bin. Did an English degree (1st class honours), did Masters Degree in Medieval Culture. I got back into aviation as a hobby only a year or two after torching my collection. Ended up with a career in IT as a Systems Engineer and eventually wrote a book - on aviation.

 

[BAROBA]

@overscan (PaulMM) Maybe you should do a book about the dynamics of flight of a dragon in Old English, combining both your education and hobby.
*Runs for the hills*

 

[steelpillow]

Not sure if these count as textbooks, but from my historical shelf:

AE Berriman (1913); Aviation, Methuen. Possibly one of the very first? Covers the principles and history of the aeroplane and of aviation in general.

James Hay Stevens (1953); The Shape of the Aeroplane, Hutchinson. As much a historical chronology as an exposition of the principles involved.

 

[AeroFranz]

In college, at least in the US, lots of professors use Roskam's eight volume series of books (although not as popular as Raymer or Nicolai). A bit dated, but then again the physics of flight haven't changed. Lots of good info, and data on aircraft you can use to derive trend lines and approximate methods. Like Raymer, it's written in a fairly accessible way.

In the field of aerodynamics, I can't think of a single book that has been cited more times in research papers than Hoerner's Fluid Dynamic Drag. It's a 1950s compendium of aerodynamic data obtained by NACA and European research institutes covering anything from the drag of a man standing in different positions, to rigid airships, to cars and buildings.

 

[riggerrob]

Dan Raymer also wrote a much smaller book "Simplified Aircraft Design for Homebuilders" that focusses on sub-sonic light airplanes small enough and simple enough for amateurs to build. It is a good introduction to the basics.

 

[TomcatViP]

I see that Ira Abbott book has been forgotten in the list so far:
- Theory of wings section (Habbott and Von Doenhoff)
A today cheap/must have extensive studies for any wannabe aircraft designer

Regarding rotary wings, I would suggest to go directly to:
- Rotary-wings aerodynamics by Stepniewski
It comes in a two volumes bound edition that I would recommend to choose (all in one)

 

[yasotay]

I have Stepniewski's book, but it is filled with all that math gibberish that makes designing unfun.

 

[Avimimus]

Not sure if these count as textbooks, but from my historical shelf:

AE Berriman (1913); Aviation, Methuen. Possibly one of the very first? Covers the principles and history of the aeroplane and of aviation in general.

That sounds fascinating...

Honestly, I only ever claim to have an adequate knowledge of interwar aeronautical engineering... things get more complicated in the 1950s - which probably means that I should actually read a couple of modern textbooks But part of me wants to just perfect my knowledge of the limited understanding that existed during the interwar years....

I also, kind-of want to show up at the local R/C aircraft club and start quoting Berriman for everything and questioning the safety of cantilever wing structures... and treating it as if the debate about one versus two membrane wings, and ailerons vs. wing warping isn't settled yet... it'd be amusing. So I'll probably track that one down.

Any other old textbooks that people would recommend?

 

[sienar]

I think Gudmundsson does a better job of covering things than Raymer. Although as someone mentioned above Roskam is great too, pretty much gets straight to the point.

 

[martinbayer]

I left my degree convinced engineering was wrong for me, and determined I was going to study English and be a poet or a writer or something, so I dumped all my aviation stuff in a bin. Did an English degree (1st class honours), did Masters Degree in Medieval Culture. I got back into aviation as a hobby only a year or two after torching my collection. Ended up with a career in IT as a Systems Engineer and eventually wrote a book - on aviation.

What's the title of your book?

 

[steelpillow]

Any other old textbooks that people would recommend?

The classic text was long Sir Frederick Lanchester's two-volume set on Aerial Flight, I haven't read it myself:
F. W. Lanchester; Aerodynamics (1907) and Aerodonetics (1908), London, Archibald Constable & Co.

 

[stealthflanker]

Introductions to Aeronautics : A Design Perspective.

It contains maths but it's kind of easy to understand, also with many worked examples in it. It also contains many "rules of thumb" in aircraft performance estimations, granted it is rather old as it's published in 1998. But it's really worth to look into.

 

[Dynoman]

Gudmundsson has a Youtube channel that has a number of tutorials that could help students understand various concepts of design.

https://www.youtube.com/c/DrGudmundssonsAircraftDesignChannel/videos

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

I left my degree convinced engineering was wrong for me, and determined I was going to study English and be a poet or a writer or something, so I dumped all my aviation stuff in a bin. Did an English degree (1st class honours), did Masters Degree in Medieval Culture. I got back into aviation as a hobby only a year or two after torching my collection. Ended up with a career in IT as a Systems Engineer and eventually wrote a book - on aviation.

What's the title of your book?

Hawker P.1103 and P.1121: Camm's Last Fighter Projects

 

[shedofdread]

I suggested this in another thread but for completeness' sake I'm putting it here too. Don't be put off by the use of "model" in the title; it explains the underlying science in a very accessible way and also gives greater depth should that be required.

Model Aircraft Aerodynamics: Amazon.co.uk: Simons, Martin: 9781854861900: Books

Buy Model Aircraft Aerodynamics 4 by Simons, Martin (ISBN: 9781854861900) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Sundog]

Nicolai, thanks for bringing that book up. That was our main reference when I was in school in the mid-eighties. We referenced Roskam for data. Also a lot of AIAA and AGARD papers and all of the usual journals of that time. Remember Interavia? We also had some good papers from the primes. If you like the esoteric stuff, there's a decent book out on the Aerodynamics of Lippisch and the AIAA has (had?) one on tailless aircraft that I have around here, somewhere.

In fact, it's amazing to see all of the aero-engineering books that are available now. When I was in school, it really was just Nicolai and Roskam. All of the Aero-Engineering professors had their own notes, sometimes with chapters pulled from M.E. books. None of the AIAA books existed until a year or two after I graduated.

 

[Aeroengineer1]

The Design of the Aeroplane by Darrol Stinton is a good one. Also there are a few books written by Pazmany that are also very good.

 

[Aeroengineer1]

Aircraft Structures by Peery is also a very nice structures book that can be had cheap. Do not get the second ed, get the reprint of the first. The second ed removed on the order of 100+ pages and did not give any real additions. Not worth it.

All the books @coanda mentioned are fantastic, though Bruhn is a bit of a pain to get through as it has no Index or Table of Contents. There are some that have been created by others that overcome this limitation.

The Air Force Stress Manual is great as well.

Machinery's Handbook is a great references as well. Particularly around threads, fits, and many other misc topics. I have met many design engineers that just think that it is for machinists, but it is a very concise reference.

Mil-Hdbk-5 and -17 for materials properties for metallic and composite properties. These are great if you are in a company that cannot invest a lot of money on materials properties and need certified properties that can be used. Unfortunately they are now held under a commercial consortium to maintain and -5 went to MMPDS and each subsequent release gets a higher dash number increment. CHM-17 is the replacement for -17.

The Practical Galvanic Series is also a fantastic reference. It is better than most large companies and their data that I have found in many cases.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Perhaps we need to split this topic a bit, as we started with some suitable for beginners stuff and are now discussing heavy duty stress analysis?

 

[Sundog]

For anyone interested in the mathematics of lofting, I highly recommend Mathematics for Computer Graphics by Dr. Roy A. Liming. I think I paid around $7 for my copy.

 

[sferrin]

I left my degree convinced engineering was wrong for me, and determined I was going to study English and be a poet or a writer or something, so I dumped all my aviation stuff in a bin. Did an English degree (1st class honours), did Masters Degree in Medieval Culture. I got back into aviation as a hobby only a year or two after torching my collection. Ended up with a career in IT as a Systems Engineer and eventually wrote a book - on aviation.

Funny all the twists and turns our lives take.

 

[Aeroengineer1]

Yes, have used Mil HdBk 5 in the past, and no doubt will do so again in future. We preferred H over J - that was the OK'd version as I recall.

There is pdf contents for Bruhn but eventually you get used to where the info is you need. That and post-it note markers!

Peery I recall hearing about early on in my career but never saw anyone using a copy.

If you don't want to go for the full machinery's handbook there is a much smaller flip type book that has the basics including fits. If you think you'll be in areas where actual manufacturing happens - cnc programmer or similar then machinery's handbook is a must. It's appreciated by people down the line when upfront work is done to make things manufacturable. You have to learn all this yourself when your company isn't big enough to have design guideline documents.

Zeus...

RDGTOOLS Zeus Chart 2008 Latest Revision : Amazon.co.uk: Books

RDGTOOLS Zeus Chart 2008 Latest Revision : Amazon.co.uk: Books

www.amazon.co.uk

Yup, I use H as well because it has all the bookmarks in the PDF. Not sure why they did not do that in J.

As to Peery, It is a good book. It is also cheap, which is rare in engineering.

 

[stealthflanker]

I would love for a book or maybe text on proper CAD modeling for RF Simulations particularly RCS.

There seems to be still no particular standard yet on what is acceptable for a CAD model for Radar Cross Section estimates.

So far i only found few papers while books by Knott (Radar Cross Section 2nd Edition) and the other one which specifically deals with RCS measurement only deals with scale models.

 

[riggerrob]

If some knowledgeable contributor were keen, he/she could produce a 2D or 3D chart that shows relative sophistication of the various text books. Raymer's "Simplified Aircraft Design for Homebuilders" would land in the lower left corner, while his thick college textbook would land near the middle, with specialized textbooks around the edges.
Maybe start with conceptual design on the left margin, with deep detail on the right margin.
Perhaps start with slow airspeeds along the bottom edge, with supersonic along the top edge.

We probably need a separate chart for rotor craft textbooks.

 

[Mugs914]

Aerodynamics For Naval Aviators by H. H. Hurt, Jr.

An excellent intro to basic principles. Link to PDF...

https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/media/00-80t-80.pdf

 

[Mugs914]

Basics of R/C model Aircraft Design by Andy Lennon

Also good basics, but a bit more model-focused than Martin Simmons. Still well worth a read!

 

[oluen]

What about "Introduction to Flight" and "Fundamentals of Aerodynamics" by John D. Anderson?
Lots of formulas but accesible and well explained.
Very interesting "Aircraft Design" by Heinemann (yes, that Heinemann).The problen is that it's out of print, and difficult to find a copy.

 

[AeroFranz]

I got a copy from Martin Hollmann's website...let's see...

Books | Product categories | Aircraft Designs

www.aircraftdesigns.com

Frankly it was a mixed bag. I enjoyed reading more of Heinemann's thoughts after reading his autobiography, but the ringbound book is kind of a mess, with typos and pages missing. It also doesn't provide a complete overview of the design process like a textbook would. Too bad, I had high expectations, being a huge Heinemann fan.

 

[kitnut617]

A friend was clearing out his study (downsizing) and asked me if I could find a home for this set of pamphlets. Does this fall in the context of this thread?

 

[Aeroengineer1]

A friend was clearing out his study (downsizing) and asked me if I could find a home for this set of pamphlets. Does this fall in the context of this thread?

I four one would be interested in seeing what they contain!

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

I left my degree convinced engineering was wrong for me, and determined I was going to study English and be a poet or a writer or something, so I dumped all my aviation stuff in a bin. Did an English degree (1st class honours), did Masters Degree in Medieval Culture. I got back into aviation as a hobby only a year or two after torching my collection. Ended up with a career in IT as a Systems Engineer and eventually wrote a book - on aviation.

Funny all the twists and turns our lives take.

Yes, what's the name of the Lemony Snicket book? "A Series of Unfortunate Events"?

 

[Sundog]

There's a sale on many of the books (Case Studies) I've recommended going on at the AIAA right now. I just picked up three books. There's some good bargains there and you don't have to be a member to get the sale price.

AIAA Holiday Book Sale

 

[Beer1_0]

Hi, I'm looking for resources that dives deep into high speed flight, particularly delta winged aircrafts

 

[Aeroweanie]

Dan Raymer also wrote a much smaller book "Simplified Aircraft Design for Homebuilders" that focusses on sub-sonic light airplanes small enough and simple enough for amateurs to build. It is a good introduction to the basics.

You'll find my testimonial on the back cover. For the record, the full testimonial was "Great book - I can't wait until the movie comes out!"

 

[Alpha591]

A friend was clearing out his study (downsizing) and asked me if I could find a home for this set of pamphlets. Does this fall in the context of this thread?

Hi Kitnut617, I believe, Yes. It's about Detail Aircraft Structural Analysis by G.N. Mangurian from The Martin Company, B-26 Marauder is the feature aircraft.

 

[Aeroengineer1]

I just came across a fantastic textbook that for those interested in smaller aircraft design is really great. It is called:

General Aviation Aircraft Design: Applied Methods and Procedures
by:
Snorry Gudmundsson

He used to work at Cirrus Aircraft in various roles before he went into teaching. It is a really great and practical book. It is not cheap, but it is really worth it in my opinion.