Understanding Flight

This book addresses the science of flying for the pilot. It offers a clear, low-math presentation that starts with basic aerodynamics and goes on to clarify a diverse range of advanced topics, such as design, propulsion, performance, high-speed flight, and flight testing. Not-to-be missed insights for pilots, instructors, flight students, aeronautical engineering students, and flight enthusiasts. This is an extremely capable text, on a par with the classic (but out-of-print) Flight Without Formulae.

The skill and experience of the authors comes through, and this book gives the reader a thorough understanding of the scientific elements of flight:

  • It explains flight in intuitive and graphical terms
  • Flight theory is extended to closely related topics such as piston and jet propulsion, stability & control, and the theory of the stable flight of the dimpled golf ball!
  • High quality illustrations show all the elements of flight and aerodynamics
  • The text provides practical insights for all levels of pilots, but it will be especially useful to commercial students and flight instructors.
  • It demonstrates the theory of wings, aerodynamic construction, flight testing, and high-speed flight
  • The book provides a permanent flight reference for all levels of pilots

    Table of Contents:

    1. Introduction
    2. How Airplanes Fly
      1. Lift
      2. Viscosity
      3. Angle of Attack
      4. Power
      5. Drag
      6. Vortices
      7. Ground Effect
    3. Wings
      1. Airfoils
      2. Aspect Ratio
      3. Dihedral
      4. Wingtips,Winglets,Canards
      5. Boundary Layer
      6. Ice
      7. High Lift Devices
    4. Stability & Control
      1. Longitudinal Stability
      2. The Horizontal Stabilizer
      3. Directional Stability
      4. Handling
      5. Dutch Roll
    5. Airplane Propulsion
      1. Thrust
      2. Power
      3. Efficiency
      4. Propellers
      5. Piston Engines
      6. Turbines
      7. Thrust Reversers
    6. High-Speed Flight
      1. Mach Number
      2. Compressibility
      3. Shock Waves & Wave Drag
      4. Transonic Flight
      5. Wing Sweep
      6. Area Rule
    7. Performance
      1. Lift-Drag Ratio
      2. Glide
      3. Indicated Airspeed
      4. Takeoff Performance
      5. Climb
      6. Ceiling
      7. Fuel Consumption
      8. Maximum Endurance
      9. Maximum Range
      10. Turns; Turns & Stall Speed
      11. Standard Rate Turns
      12. Landing
    8. Aerodynamic Flight Testing
      1. Wind Tunnels
      2. The Standard Day
      3. Power Required
      4. Takeoff & Landing
      5. Climbing & Turning
      6. Flight Test Accidents
    9. Appendices; Bernoulli's Principle

    Author Biography The author team consists of a physicist at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and an associate professor in the department of aeronautics and astronautics at the University of Washington.