Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach (Aiaa Education Series) (Hardcover)

by Daniel P. Raymer (Author) "Aircraft design is a separate discipline of aeronautical engineering-different from the analytical disciplines such as aerodynamics, structures, controls, and propulsion..." (more)
Key Phrases: Conceptual Approach, Air Force, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Raymer's book...takes a practical, rather than academic, view of the development of a design. It covers not only aerodynamics, stability, and stress analysis...but also the interstitial stuff about general arrangement and the interplay of competing design considerations that are really the grout that holds a design together."

Product Description
This textbook presents the process of aircraft conceptual design as seen in industry aircraft design groups. It contains design methods, illustrations, tips, explanations and equations, and has extensive appendices with key data for design.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 838 pages
• Publisher: AIAA (American Institute of Aeronautics & Ast; 4 edition (August 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563478293
• ISBN-13: 978-1563478291
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #203,613 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding summary of conceptual aircraft design, September 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach (Aiaa Education Series) (Hardcover)

Mr. Raymer has managed to explain a very complicated process in a way that is both understandable and interesting. Conceptual aircraft design (i.e., starting with nothing but a set of performance criteria to be met) is a multi-variable problem in which the value of most of the variables depend on other variables. The solution of such problems require initial approximations with subsequent iterations. Mr. Raymer explains the conceptual design process, gives historic values used for first approximations and makes good use of actual examples. Two conceptual designs, one a homebuilt aerobatic aircraft and the other a supersonic fighter, are provided in the Appendix to illustrate the procedures described in the book. I found the book interesting both in subject matter and writing style. Although written as a college textbook, the use of actual aircraft to illustrate various points and the author's obvious desire to be precise about his descriptions makes the book easy to follow and fun to those interested in the subject.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Necessary Starting Point to Understanding Aircraft Design , November 13, 2005

By	Dianne Roberts (Los Angeles, California United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach (Aiaa Education Series) (Hardcover)

This is an excellent, and for the time being the authoratative, book about aircraft design. For anyone who wants to become an aerospace engineer reading a book like this should put any type of work they'll do in the proper context.

The best part of this book is that it is split into two halves. The frist half talks specifically about aircraft design from a practical level, covering topics like wing planform selection, thrust to weight and wing loading determination, engine sizing, landing gear configuraiton, etc. This is the applied, design oriented type of knowledge and thinking that all engineers need and is unfortunately not being taught by most schools, albeit it is of course specific to aircraft. (My college had just one ten week aircraft design course over an entire four year curriculum. The course was offered in two sections. Only one of the sections even had this book on the reading list, and then didn't even use it in class!) The second half delves into the analytical methods that are used to "size" different parts of the aircraft, such as methods to predict drag (for engine thrust in cruise), to predict downwash both subsonically and supersonically (effects total lift and stability and control), to determine rough sizes of beam and torsion members of the structure, to size the control surfaces for stability and control, etc. There's also a good interlude where the author gives us a step-by-step example of how you could do conceptual design. (This is not the ONLY way to do conceptual design, but it's important to have SOME method and this is a great introduction to one.) It also has two good example designs in the appendix, plus LOTS of good reference data throughout the book.

This is the type of book that should be read first by anyone involved with aircraft design and/or research and development so that they can understand the big picture framework of how aircraft are generally configured.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good aircraft design overview, June 1, 2005

By	B. Robbins - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach (Aiaa Education Series) (Hardcover)

Pretty decent book overall. I suggest it more for the student than the professional, however. Also, be careful not to extrapolate beyond his emperical equations or you get completely bogus results. Also, the book is very weak on the subject of piston engine & propeller combinations.