📗 Libro en inglés THE AERODYNAMIC DESIGN OF AIRCRAFT

Dietrich Küchemann''s The Aerodynamic Design of Aircraft is as relevant and forward looking today as when it was first published in 1978. It comprises the philosophy and life''s work of a unique and visionary intellect.

Unlike most engineering texts which focus on a set of tools, Küchemann''s approach is to focus on the problem and its solution - what kind of flow is best for a given class of aircraft and how to achieve it? In this approach, Küchemann fully embraces the true inverse nature of design; rather than answer ''what flow given the shape'' he strives to answer ''what flow given the purpose'' and then ''what shape given the flow.'' Küchemann establishes three classes of aircraft based on the character of flow involved. Each class is suitable for a distinct cruise speed regime: classical and swept aircraft for subsonic and transonic cruise, slender-wing aircraft for supersonic cruise, and wave-rider aircraft for hypersonic cruise.

Based upon material Küchemann taught in a course at Imperial College London, the physical insight and intuition conveyed by this text are timeless. With its republication, Dietrich Küchemann''s influence will extend to the next generation of aerospace industry students and practitioners and the vehicles they will produce.