Course
Flight Dynamics I
Forces and moments acting on a vehicle in flight. Equations of motion of a rigid flight vehicle. Various types of drags. Drag polar of vehicles from low speeds to hypersonic speeds. Review of the variation of thrust / power and SFC with altitude and velocity, for various air breathing engines and rockets. Performance of airplane in level flight, glide, climb, accelerated flight, turn, maneuvers, take-off and landing. Flight limitations. Flight-testing : Altitude definitions, Speed definitions, Air Speed, altitude and temperature measurements. Errors and calibration. Measurement of engine power, charts and corrections. Flight determination of drag polar
Course structure & Assessments
4 credit course, weekly online assignments, 2 in-person invigilated quizzes, 1 in-person invigilated end term exam. For details, visit Academics.
| Week 1 | Introduction, Governing equations for translational motion, International standard atmosphere |
| Week 2 | Modeling lift, drag, thrust, and weight |
| Week 3 | Level flight performance: minimum drag and power required, maximum and minimum speeds. |
| Week 4 | Level flight performance: range and endurance. |
| Week 5 | Climb: maximum rate of climb and angle of climb, ceiling. Glide: minimum glide angle and sink rate. |
| Week 6 | Level acceleration. Accelerated climb: minimum time to climb. |
| Week 7 | Level turns: Instantaneous and sustained turns - maximum turn rate and minimum turn radius. |
| Week 8 | Vertical turns. Takeoff: takeoff length, important speed definitions, balanced field length. Landing: approach and landing length. |
| Week 9 | V-n diagram: limits – stall, structural limit, maximum dive speed. Corner point. Modification of V-n diagram considering gust. |
| Week 10 | Trim. Longitudinal stability criterion. Contribution to CMalpha and CM0 by various airplane parts. Neutral point. Static margin. Elevator deflection to compute trim. |
| Week 11 | Sideslip angle. Lateral and directional static stability criteria. Contribution to CNbeta and CLbeta by various airplane parts. |
| Week 12 | Flight testing |