Introduction to Aircraft Design

The previous chapters have shown the complexity of aircraft, and their constituent parts. Their design is a daunting, but potentially satisfying task. Designers need all the help that they can get to achieve successful results.

The usual starting point is a sound aeronautical education. Design is learnt by a combination of theoretical education and design experience at university and/or in industry. It must be stressed that design is much more than analysis. It is a creative process involving the synthesis of knowledge from many disciplines, monitored by qualitative and quantitative checks. These should assess the value of the necessary design compromises and lead to optimum designs. Advice from, and work alongside, experienced designers is an invaluable part of the education process. People learn how to design by actually doing it! Less-experienced design organizations can be helped by specialist consultants. Such help is, however, not always available, but much design knowledge and experience has been encapsulated in the publications and programs described later in this chapter.

Many individuals and organizations publish reports, papers and memoranda, many of which contain relevant data. Modern libraries use on-line computerized data bases that sort and codify these date sources on the basis of key words. A description of such reports is beyond the scope of this book. The most exciting new development has been the advent of the internet. There is a bewildering array of data, with much of interest to aircraft designers. Patience and good net-surfing skills are required.

Any bibliography is a matter of personal choice. The books, magazines and programs listed below have been found by the author to be extremely useful and are reasonably easily available. Excluded data sources are not necessarily less valuable than those listed, but are not available to the author.

The aircraft industry has seen a massive growth in the power and user-friendliness of computer aids. The latter part of this chapter gives an overview of a range of computerized design aids.