The Bird Is on the Wing

by Hansen, James R.

• ISBN13: 9781585442881
• ISBN10: 1585442887
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-12-01
• Publisher: Texas A & M Univ Pr

Summary

Just as the airplane is a defining technology of the twentieth century, aerodynamics has been the defining element of the airplane. In "The Bird Is on the Wing Hansen provides an easily understandable introduction to the role of aerodynamics in the design of such historic American aircraft as the DC-3, X-1, and 747. He presents a history of aircraft technology and a collective biography of the scientists, engineers, and designers who created the airplanes. He skillfully guides the reader through the development of such critical concepts as streamlining, flutter, laminar-flow airfoils, the mythical "sound barrier," variable-sweep wing, supersonic cruise, blended body, and much more. Hansen's explanation of how vocabulary and specifications were developed to fill the gap between the perceptions of pilots and the systems of engineers will fascinate all those interested in how human beings have used aerodynamics to move among, and even beyond, birds on the wing.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vi
Acknowledgments	ix
INTRODUCTION The Defining Element of a Defining Technology	3	(12)
CHAPTER 1 The Winding Path to the Wright Brothers	15	(26)
CHAPTER 2 Reinventing the Airplane	41	(41)
CHAPTER 3 Breaking the Sound Barrier	82	(28)
CHAPTER 4 The Supersonic Design Revolution	110	(33)
CHAPTER 5 The Rise and Fall of the SST	143	(32)
CHAPTER 6 The Progress of the Jetliner	175	(37)
CHAPTER 7 The Future of Flight	212	(21)
Notes	233	(16)
Selected Bibliography	249	(10)
Index	259