Customer Reviews

Aerodynamics of Wings and Bodies (Dover Books on Aeronautical Engineering)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The book is Copyright 1965. The fact that it is still in print says a lot about it. It must be a well-regarded standard text. The preface says that the book evolved from notes for a two-term course presented by the authors to grad students at the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The book contains chapters on Review of Fluid Mechanics, Constant Density Inviscid Flow, Singular Pertubation Problems, Effects of Viscosity, Thin Wing Theory, Slender Body Theory, 3D Wings in Steady Subsonic Flow, 3D Thin Wings in Steady Supersonic Flow, Supersonic Drag, Use of Flow Reversal Theorems, Interference and Nonplanar Lifting Surface Theories, Transonic Small Disturbance Flow, and Unsteady Flow.

The book looks to be a very complete and very mathematical treatment of subsonic and supersonic aerodynamics. Unfortunately, the math was well beyond what I remember from my long-ago calculus classes. It is probably a 4 to 5 star book for its target audience.

This book may be a good supplement to advanced fluids majors but there is no description of the mammoth equations used in this text. I bought this in 86 for my aero course and never used the book.

This is a great book that should benefit readers with a strong mathematical background at senior graduate or postgraduate level in aerospace engineering studies. Those outside this bracket may find the book a challenge to understand and follow as they can very easily be overwhelmed by the mathematics. The book has stood the test of time and is a must for specialists in aerodynamics or fluid mechanics who need a rigorous treatment of the subject.

All-in-all, a good book for those who can handle advanced mathematical manipulations particularly those carrying out studies at Masters or Doctoral level.

This book is deceptively titled. It gives no inklng of the density of the math involved. It should properly be titled "A rigorous mathematical treatment of the Aerodynamics ..." I doubt I could have followed this back when I was immersed in physics and engineering courses in college. I certainly bounced right off of it 15 years later. This book should not even be available outside of University Bookstores' Engineering sections. There is simply no point in anyone else buying it.

Just about everyone who considers a home built aircraft enters the domain with questions. While formal education isn't required, those who want to learn about designing will find this an excellent read for under 140 pages. This book will familiarize any inquisitive mind with facts about building propeller planes that fly under 250 mph. It does cover some faster flying planes for more experienced aviators. The illustrations cover the subject matter well at the average of one photo or drawing per page and will keep your interest high. My hats off to writer Dr. Daniel P. Raymer for his good technical writing talents. A lot more people would be attending college if books were written this way.

This book is written by two acknowledged legends in aeronautical engineering and should be approached only by advanced aerodynamicists. Basic derivations for airfoils and wings given in other texts such as Anderson are rapidly skipped over. This allows the book to cover much more advanced material such as unsteady flow and supersonic drag in a relatively small number of pages. As a graduate student myself, I would be extremely afraid of taking the class this book arose from. Expect a pounding headache after reading this text.