Aircraft Design Course Supplementary Material
Useful Websites
The Lockheed C-130 was designed by a team led by Willis Hawkins in response to an Air Force RFP issued in February 1951. The C-130 has been in production since 1954, and the current version (C-130J) has been selected by the armed forces of eight countries. Like other long-lived designs, its maximum takeoff gross weight has increased (from 124,000 lb to 155,000 lb), and performance has been greatly improved as more powerful engines became available. The designer's dilemma is that designing-in the capability for growth (such as oversizing the wing), may penalize the initial design but improve the chances for a long-lived production line..
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Boeing: Good source of authoritative data
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Airbus Group: Good source of authoritative data
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Lockheed Martin: some useful data
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Northrop Grumman: performance data is basic
Government
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FAA: For current FARs you must use this website. Other websites have FARs that may not be current
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FAA: Aircraft Maintenance Technician's Handbook is a useful overview of aircraft systems
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Other FAA Handbooks: Many useful manuals on aircraft operations and maintenance
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US Air Force Fact Sheets: provides geometric and performance data for aircraft and weapons in the Air Force inventory
Aircraft Design and Synthesis Programs
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Piano 5: European aircraft synthesis and performance program
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Phoenix Integration: Model Center is a system for performing design trade studies using legacy software
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AVID LLC: AVID (Air Vehicle Integrated Design) software developed by ex-NASA engineers
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DAR Corporation: Advanced Aircraft Analysis (AAA), developed by Jan Roskam
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CEASIOM: Developed by CFS in Switzerland
Professional Associations
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American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA): Membership is inexpensive for students
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Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS): UK professional society, and the oldest.
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Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE): Strong aerospace section. The SAE organizes an annual Design/Build/Fly competition
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Society of Allied Weights Engineers (SAWE): Most of its work is related to aerospace
University Courses
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Stanford University AA 241: Extensive notes for an excellent course by Ilan Kroo (broken link, but notes available elsewhere)
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MIT Open Courseware: Go to Dept 16 (Aero/Astro)
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Virginia Tech: look for documents by Bill Mason (e.g. AOE 4065-4066 Aircraft Design, or AOE 4124 Configuration Aerodynamics)
Media
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Flight International: Much useful current and historical data
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Air Transport World: News on airline operations
Others
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Dan Raymer's website: Also has many links to other useful websites
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Airliners.net: The site has a good database on a wide variety of commercial aircraft
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Aerospaceweb.org: Another good database for commercial aircraft
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Professional Pilot's Rumor Network: Rumor and gossip for pilots