Atmospheric Flight

From people's initial dreams and theories of flight to future design problems, this class introduces students to flight in the atmosphere and the multidisciplinary challenges of aircraft design. We will discuss how new approaches to airplane propulsion, structures, autonomy, and aerodynamics can lead to environmentally sustainable future transportation, supersonic flight, and personal air vehicles. We will look at how local companies are developing autonomous aircraft, inspired by natural flyers, to systems that will provide ubiquitous internet access flying at twice the altitude of airliners. Prerequisites: MATH 20, 21 or equivalents; elementary physics.