Calculation and optimisation of flight performance is required to design or select new aircraft, efficiently operate existing aircraft, and upgrade aircraft. It provides critical data for aircraft certification, accident investigation, fleet management, flight regulations and safety. This book presents an unrivalled range of advanced flight performance models for both transport and military aircraft, including the unconventional ends of the envelopes. Topics covered include the numerical solution of supersonic acceleration, transient roll, optimal climb of propeller aircraft, propeller performance, long-range flight with en-route stop, fuel planning, zero-gravity flight in the atmosphere, VSTOL operations, ski jump from aircraft carrier, optimal flight paths at subsonic and supersonic speed, range-payload analysis of fixed- and rotary wing aircraft, performance of tandem helicopters, lower-bound noise estimation, sonic boom, and more. This book will be a valuable text for undergraduate and post-graduate level students of aerospace engineering. It will also be an essential reference and resource for practicing aircraft engineers, aircraft operations managers and organizations handling air traffic control, flight and flying regulations, standards, safety, environment, and the complex financial aspects of flying aircraft.

This textbook is a multi-disciplinary compendium that includes several aspects of rotorcraft technology. It introduces the reader to the aerodynamic aspects of rotary wings and presents experimental techniques for aerodynamics. The chapters also cover rotorcraft engines and rotorcraft steady-state flight performance and stability. It explores several aspects of the tiltrotor configuration and lists challenges in their design, modelling and simulation. The reader will also find an introductory overview of flight control systems for rotorcraft, as well as the conceptual and preliminary design concepts for a conventional helicopter. This textbook contains video recordings of computer simulations that can be used alongside the main text.

This book deals with aircraft flight performance. It focuses on commercial aircraft but also considers examples of high-performance military aircraft. The framework is a multidisciplinary engineering analysis, fully supported by flight simulation, with software validation at several levels. The book covers topics such as geometrical configurations, configuration aerodynamics and determination of aerodynamic derivatives, weight engineering, propulsion systems (gas turbine engines and propellers), aircraft trim, flight envelopes, mission analysis, trajectory optimization, aircraft noise, noise trajectories, and analysis of environmental performance. A unique feature of this book is the discussion and analysis of the environmental performance of the aircraft, focusing on topics such as aircraft noise and carbon dioxide emissions.