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ACADEMY INNOVA WORLD
ACADEMY INNOVA WORLD

Aircraft Design for Freshmen

Aircraft design is one of the foundation pillars of Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering. Introducing this subject at the freshman level plays a crucial role in shaping a student’s technical mindset, creativity, and understanding of the aviation world. This course will help learners to gain clarity about future career paths—design, analysis, simulation, manufacturing, or R&D.

Course Outcome

This course is designed to equip students with a comprehensive understanding of the procedures involved in the conceptual design of an aircraft, ensuring alignment with user-defined requirements and compliance with safety standards set by aircraft certification authorities. Students will gain exposure to various aircraft types and their characteristics, requirement analysis, configuration selection, initial sizing, estimation of drag coefficients, and overall aircraft performance evaluation. A distinctive component of this course is a full, hands-on design exercise in which students will re-size a baseline civil transport aircraft to satisfy a specific market demand. 

Pedagogical Approaches

Animated contented, 3D Simulations, AR features, and Video lecture integrations

Prerequisite Subjects

Aerodynamics, Propulsion, Structures, and Flight Mechanics

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Syllabus
Lecture Notes
Immersive Learning
Frequently Asked Questions
Test Your Knowledge
Reference
Syllabus

Syllabus

Aircraft Design — Syllabus Timeline

Module 1: Introduction to Aircraft Design

Module 2: Design process overview: conceptual, preliminary & detailed design

Module 3: Initial Sizing of Aircraft

Module 4: Weight Estimation of an Aircraft

Module 5: Airfoil and Wing Design

Module 6: Fuselage Design

Module 7: Empennage and Landing Gear Design

Module 8: Engine Selection

Module 9: Drag Estimation of Aircraft Design

Module 10: Aircraft Performance of Aircraft Design

Lecture Notes

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Immersive Learning

History of Aviation

History of Aviation Timeline

Daedalus and Icarus

Ancient Greek Myth

A mythological story that symbolizes humanity's ancient and enduring desire to fly.

Tower jump

875

Abbas Ibn Firnas (Malaga, Spain) jumps from a high place with wooden wings covered in silk and feathers.

Leonardo da Vinci's Ornithopters

15th Century

Designed detailed human-powered flapping wing machines (ornithopters). While imaginative, this approach was not practical for flight.

Montgolfier Brothers' Hot-Air Balloon

Nov 21, 1783

The first sustained, manned flight in history. Carried humans over Paris, proving it was possible to leave the ground.

Sir George Cayley's Design

1799

A pivotal moment. Engraved the core concept of the modern airplane (fixed wing, separate tail, distinct systems for lift and thrust) on a silver disk. He is considered the "true inventor of the airplane" concept.

Otto Lilienthal's Gliders

1891–1896

Made the first successful, controlled flights in a fixed-wing glider. His over 2,000 flights provided crucial data and inspiration, proving wings could work.

1.6 WWII U.S. Navy Assault Drone

World War II

Early assault and expendable drones were fielded in limited roles during WWII.

The Wright Brothers' First Flight

Dec 17, 1903

The landmark achievement. At Kitty Hawk, NC, Orville and Wilbur Wright achieved the first controlled, sustained, powered, heavier-than-air, manned flight in history.

Louis Bleriot cross the Channel

1909

First person to cross the Channel with his monoplane Blériot XI in a 37-minute flight. DELAG company was founded, the first airline in mail and passenger transport.

Junkers F-13

1919

Early civil monoplane design that pioneered the use of aluminum in airframe construction.

Amelia Earhart

1932

She completes a nonstop transatlantic flight, thus becoming the first woman to accomplish this feat.

First jet fighter aircraft

1944

The Messerschmitt, first jet fighter aircraft, enters service with the German Luftwaffe.

Convention on International Civil Aviation

1947

Established rules of airspace, aircraft registration and safety, security, and sustainability, and details the rights of the signatories in relation to air travel.

Boeing composite flight

2009

Boeing performs its first B787 flight and becomes the first plane made from composite materials.

First hybrid aircraft

2014

Boeing tests the first hybrid aircraft capable of in-flight battery recharging.

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Airbus A330-200
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Antonov
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Chinook CH-47
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Cessna 421
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Frequently Asked Questions

Aircraft Design – MCQ Quiz (20 Questions)

1. The first phase of aircraft design is:

2. Wing loading is defined as:

3. Which component primarily generates lift?

4. A vertical tail provides:

5. The drag due to shape of aircraft is called:

6. The fuselage primarily carries:

7. Aspect ratio of a wing is:

8. MALE stands for:

9. Induced drag occurs due to:

10. The landing gear must support:

11. The most common airfoil database used is:

12. The thrust required increases mainly due to:

13. The empennage provides:

14. SFC stands for:

15. Lift coefficient increases with:

16. The primary engine choice depends on:

17. Drag polar relates:

18. MTOW stands for:

19. Clmax refers to:

20. Cruise performance depends largely on:

Test Your Knowledge

Aircraft Design – MCQ Quiz (20 Questions)

1. The first phase of aircraft design is:

2. Wing loading is defined as:

3. Which component primarily generates lift?

4. A vertical tail provides:

5. The drag due to shape of aircraft is called:

6. The fuselage primarily carries:

7. Aspect ratio of a wing is:

8. MALE stands for:

9. Induced drag occurs due to:

10. The landing gear must support:

11. The most common airfoil database used is:

12. The thrust required increases mainly due to:

13. The empennage provides:

14. SFC stands for:

15. Lift coefficient increases with:

16. The primary engine choice depends on:

17. Drag polar relates:

18. MTOW stands for:

19. Clmax refers to:

20. Cruise performance depends largely on:

Reference
1. Sadraey, Mohammad H. Aircraft design: A systems engineering approach. John Wiley & Sons, 2024.
2. Gudmundsson, Snorri. General aviation aircraft design: Applied Methods and Procedures. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2013.
3. Kundu, Ajoy Kumar, Mark A. Price, and David Riordan. Conceptual aircraft design: an industrial approach. John Wiley & Sons, 2019.
4. Raymer, Daniel. Aircraft design: a conceptual approach. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., 2012.
5. Kundu, Ajoy Kumar. Aircraft design. Vol. 27. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
6. Dhara, Aishwarya, and Jeyan Muruga Lal. Sustainable technology on aircraft design: a review. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. IOP Publishing, 2021.