Introduction to Aeronautical

Engineering

Amir Teimourian
Department of Aeronautical Engineering
University of Kyrenia
Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus
 Presentation Outline
• Brief Overview
• What is Aerospace Engineering?
• Fields in Aerospace Engineering
• Career prospect
 Past and Future
Flying has been man’s dream since he has watched birds swoop through the air
and navigate the highest reaches with ease.
 EARLY
DEVELOPMENTS
• 1486-1490- Leonardo Da Vinci
conceives the ornithopter and
leaves over 500 sketches of his
design.
 EARLY
DEVELOPMENTS

• November 21, 1783 The

Montgolfier balloon floats
over Paris
 EARLY
DEVELOPMENTS
• In 1799 Sir George Cayley engraves
on a silver disk his concept of a
fuselage , fixed wing and horizontal
and vertical tails.
• He is the grandparent of the
concept of the modern airplane.
 EARLY
DEVELOPMENTS
• 1891-1896 Otto Lilienthal
designs the first fully
successful gliders.
• Achieves more than 2000
glider flights
• Died in a glider crash in 1896
 First Plane Flight
• The first plane flight, in 1903, by Charles and Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk,
North Carolina, was the first major step in making that dream a reality
 Brief Overview
• This branch of engineering was unheard of until the Wright Brothers made their
historic flight in 1903.
• After this event, major developments took place in the field of aeronautical
engineering, which basically deals with everything related to aircrafts.
• During the First World War, many new aircrafts and missiles were developed for
military purposes and this gave further boost to its growth.
 What is Aerospace Engineering?
• Aerospace engineering is the sub-discipline of engineering that focuses on
the particular technology of aerospace vehicles, i.e., human-made craft that y
in the atmosphere or in space.
• Aerospace Engineering is an engineering field involve in the study related to
aircraft and spacecraft, including airborne weapons technologies for use in
civilian transportation, defense systems and space exploration.
• Aerospace engineers design, develop, and test aircraft, spacecraft, and
missiles, and supervise the production of these products.
 Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical
Engineering

• Aerospace engineers working with aircraft are called aeronautical engineers

• and those working specifically with spacecraft are called astronautical
engineers.
 What is Aerospace Engineering?
• Aerospace engineering is a juxtaposition of aeronautical engineering
(engineering of aircraft) with astronautical engineering (engineering of
spacecraft).
• The two fields of engineering differ considerably when it comes to the
environment and the conditions of flight, but there is something which
brings them together: the complexity of the task, the adversity of the
environment, the substantiality of the challenge. Both branches of
engineering have been developed together in the last century
 What is Aerospace Engineering?
Aerospace engineers may specialize in:
Type of production - commercial transport, military
fighter planes, helicopters, spacecraft, missile or
rockets.
Area of expertise - aerodynamics, thermodynamics,
propulsion systems, acoustics, structural design,
guidance, navigation and control, instrumentation and
communication, production methods, etc.
 Fields of Study
1. Aerodynamics
• Aerodynamics is the relationship between air (wind) and the
material (solid) that moves in it.
• Various principles of Fluid Mechanics are considered in
flying problem.
• For example, aerodynamic study will determine a suitable
shape for an aircraft, missile, etc.
 Fields of Study
2. Structure
• This area will determine the integrity (strength)
of a flying body such as an aircraft or a missile.
• Using dimensions and tolerances, strength of
material, shear flow and theory of thin plate,
the structure of an aircraft can be determined.
 Fields of Study
3. Flight Propulsion
• Propulsion is a study of an aircraft power plant.
• This study includes design and selection of
appropriate power plant for a particular aircraft.
• This field has developed vastly since the increase in
the cost of petroleum.
• Engineers have been competing to invent lighter and
more economic power plants.
 Fields of Study
4. Avionics
• Avionics is the acronym for ‘Aviation Electronics’.
• Flying has been facilitated by the use of various electronic
devices.
• Electronic devices which facilitate flying such as radars, ILS
(Instrument landing System), ADF (Automatic Direction
Finder), etc were specifically invented by the Avionic
Engineer.
 Fields of Study
5. Materials
• This field focuses its study on selecting and
determining metals, plastic composites, etc, which
are suitable for building an aircraft, rocket, etc.
 Career Prospect
International organizations that require graduates in the field of aeronautics includes:
• All airlines companies
• Aircraft manufacturers – Boeing, Airbus, Bombardier and others.
• Car and Trucks Manufacturers – Volvo, BMW, GM, Porsche, Toyota and others.
• Components manufacturers - Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, EADS and
others.
• Civil industry – Wind turbine, Skyscrapers, cooling towers
Aircraft Structures and Materials
 Material use in Airframe Construction
• Wood (Spruce)
• Steel and its alloys (Strong )
• Aluminium and its alloys (Commonly use)
• Titanium Alloys (Heat Barriers)
• Magnesium Alloys (3 times lighter than AL)
• Plastic and composite materials

Airframe Materials Properties

• High Strength to Weight ratio
• Light weight
• Corrosion Resistant
• High quality
• Should be non flammable
 Aircraft Structures
A. Fuselage
B. Wings
C. Empenage or Tail
D. Power Plant
E. Landing Gear or Undercarriage
Anatomy of an Aircraft
 A. Fuselage
• Main body of airplane
• Pilot & cargo compartments
• Generally constructed in two or more sections
• Carries accessories and other equipments
• Includes numerous access doors, inspection plates, landing wheel wells, and other openings.
 Airfoils and Wings
• An airfoil is a shape designed to produce lift.
• an airfoil is the shape seen in a slice of a
wing.
• Besides the wing, propellers and the tail
surfaces are also airfoils.
• an airfoil is just the shape seen in a slice of
the wing and not a wing itself.
 Wings
• Airfoils attached to each side of the fuselage
• Main lifting surfaces
• Various design size and shape
• May be attached at the top, middle, or lower portion of the fuselage
- High-wing, mid-wing, and low-wing
• The number of wings can also vary
- Monoplanes, biplanes
Jet Aileron Configuration
Control Surfaces
 Empennage
• Know as tail section
• Consist of
• Vertical Stabilizer
• Rudder
• Horizontal Stabilizer
• Elevators
 Power Plant
A unit or machine that converts chemical energy contains in the fuel to thrust force.
Thrust force is essential for moving the airplane forward and producing lift force.
With the piston engine, the propeller is used to convert torque at engine shaft to be
thrust. With the jet engine, the jet engine output is the thrust force.
 Landing Gear

• Located underneath of the fuselage with shock strut

• Fixed / Retractable
• Provides means of landing taxiing
• Tri- cycle –Conventional type
• Floating gear for seaplane /ski- equipped for ice surface landing etc.