TABLE OF CONTENTS Michael W. Jenkins
Aeronautics is a science centered on flight in the atmosphere. It involves the design, construction, testing, and operation of lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air aircraft. These aircraft can be either mechanically driven (jets or propellers), rocket propelled, or not driven at all (gliders or balloons). All rely upon lift for successful operation. Fixed-wing aircraft lift is generated by the dynamic action of the air on the fixed wing. Rotary-wing aircraft (helicopters and autogyros) obtain lift from rotors placed horizontally above the fuselages. A helicopter differs from an autogyro in that the rotors are turned by motor power and there is usually no auxiliary propeller for forward motion. Balloons generate lift through density differences between the balloon gas (or hot air) and the local atmosphere. Flight regimes for fixed-wing aircraft include VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing), STOL (short takeoff and landing), V/STOL (vertical and/or short takeoff and landing), CTOL (conventional takeoff and landing, and STOVL (pronounced "stoval") (short takeoff and vertical landing).
There are three phases in an aircraft design process: conceptual design, preliminary design, and final or detail design. These phases will overlap considerably, depending on the design organization. The final design and life cycle costs are almost entirely fixed by the conceptual design results, and therefore the conceptual design process is what will be discussed in this Section. In the conceptual design phase the aircraft takes shape and the influences on the design configuration of the mission and program requirements can be most readily...
