Aeronautics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Six F-16 Fighting Falcons with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team fly in delta formation in front of the Empire State Building.

Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacture of flight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft. While the term—literally meaning "sailing the air"—originally referred solely to the science of operating the aircraft, it has since been expanded to include technology, business and other aspects related to aircraft.^[1] One of the significant parts in aeronautics is a branch of physical science called aerodynamics, which deals with the motion of air and the way it interacts with objects in motion, such as an aircraft. Aviation is a term sometimes used interchangeably with aeronautics, although "aeronautics" concerns lighter-than-air craft, such as airships, while "aviation" does not.^[1]

1 Early aeronautics
2 Modern aeronautics
3 Aeronautical engineering
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Early aeronautics

Before scientific investigation of aeronautics started, people started thinking of ways to fly. In a Greek legend, Icarus and his father Daedalus built wings of feathers and wax and flew out of a prison. Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax melted, and he fell in the sea & drowned. When people started to scientifically study how to fly, people began to understand the basics of air and aerodynamics. One of the earliest scientists to study aeronautics was Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo studied the flight of birds in developing engineering schematics for some of the earliest flying machines in the late fifteenth century AD. His schematics, however, such as the ornithopter ultimately failed as practical aircraft. The flapping machines that he designed were either too small to generate sufficient lift, or too heavy for a human to operate. Although the ornithopter continues to be of interest to hobbyists, it was replaced by the glider in the 19th century.

[edit] Modern aeronautics

Modern aeronautic research is primarily conducted by independent corporations such as ESDU and universities. There are also a number of government agencies that study aeronautics, including NASA in the United States and the ESA in Europe.

[edit] Aeronautical engineering

Main article: Aerospace engineering

Aeronautical engineering is an engineering area that covers research, design, manufacture and maintenance of products such as aircraft, missiles and space satellites. It involves scientific topics of Aerodynamics, Heat Transfer, Materials, Technology, Fluid Mechanics and Aircraft Structures.