First Steps In Flight Physics

Aeronautical engineering, flight physics, aircraft in flight, aerodynamics.

What you'll learn

Learn some important fundamentals of aerodynamics, such as pressure exerted by a fluid and the source of aerodynamic forces on a solid body.

Revise Newton's laws of motion and how they are applicable to an airplane in flight.

Understand how the aerodynamic forces make an airplane to fly and how these forces induce the maneuvers in flight.

Learn some important non-dimensional variables in aeronautics, such as force coefficients and load factors.

Requirements

You must know basic mathematics and be familiar with functions and graphs.

Description

The fundamentals of flight physics are presented in this course. You will:Know the mechanism of the air pressure that enables an airplane to fly, including a microscopic point of view.Identify the main aerodynamic forces to which an airplane is subjected during flight, and how to calculate them.Notice how the proper definition of systems of axes is crucial for a good comprehension of the physics in flight.Know the three basic maneuvers of an airplane, their names, and the devices that are used for their execution.Learn some important non-dimensional quantities for an airplane's aerodynamic characteristics.Apply Newton’s laws of motion to an airplane in flight.Learn the mechanism of thrust production by the propeller and by the jet engine. You will also learn the two main variations of the jet engine: turboprop and turbofan.Be introduced to the airworthiness requirements and learn where they are available.If you are not an aeronautical engineer, but you intend to work in the aeronautical industry, this course is perfect to help you start your journey! If you intend to become an airplane pilot, this course will be highly beneficial to your future career. For aeronautical engineering students, this course may be helpful in developing study routines and providing further bibliography.

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 Welcome to this course!

Lecture 2 A brief introduction about airworthiness requirements

Section 2: Source of aerodynamic forces

Lecture 3 How a fluid exert pressure on a solid body

Lecture 4 Aerodynamic resultant force

Lecture 5 Further topics in aerodynamics

Section 3: Systems of axes

Lecture 6 Space and body systems of axes

Lecture 7 Angle of attack and airplane rotations

Lecture 8 Transformation of axes

Section 4: Fundamentals of vector algebra and newtonian mechanics

Lecture 9 Vector definition and representation

Lecture 10 Vector operations

Lecture 11 Newton's laws of motion

Lecture 12 Some considerations about Newton's laws - 1st part

Lecture 13 Some considerations about Newton's laws - 2nd part

Lecture 14 Moment of a force

Section 5: Basic forces and moments on aircraft

Lecture 15 Lift and drag forces

Lecture 16 Lift coefficient

Lecture 17 Airplane lift and drag coefficients

Lecture 18 CL vs alpha curve

Lecture 19 Longitudinal and vertical aerodynamic components

Lecture 20 Load factors

Lecture 21 Further explanation about Nz

Lecture 22 Nz in different scenarios

Lecture 23 Load Factors in the Airworthiness Requirements

Lecture 24 Aerodynamic moment

Lecture 25 The usual approach of the four basic forces

Section 6: Mass and center of gravity

Lecture 26 Center of gravity

Lecture 27 Weight and balance

Lecture 28 Airplane weights

Section 7: Basic airplane aerodynamics

Lecture 29 Stall

Lecture 30 Airworthiness Requirements Related to Stall

Lecture 31 Movable surfaces

Lecture 32 Horizontal tail

Lecture 33 Rudder and ailerons

Lecture 34 Equivalent airspeed (EAS)

Lecture 35 Flap, slat and spoilers

Section 8: Airplane thrust

Lecture 36 Fundamentals of thrust production

This course is indicated for engineers, engineering students, pilots and future pilots.