Performance and Dynamics of Aerospace Vehicles

This publication consists of a series of lectures prepared by personnel of the NASA Langley Research Center. Collectively, they were presented as a graduate seminar at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, under the auspices of Professor Robert E. Duffy. The lectures summarize theoretical and experimental work in a number of areas of current interest in the design of aeronautical and space vehicles and were intended as an extension of general academic studies toward applications to solutions of practical problems.

The material presented is not intended to be a comprehensive survey of the state of the art but rather a series of resumes of work in several areas, some of which represent fairly recent developments and others in which the significant contributions are distributed in various publications. The material covered reflects the specialties and viewpoints of the individual lecturers and little effort has been made to provide continuity between the different papers. The topics are, nevertheless, grouped under three general headings, as follows:

1. Aerodynamics of vehicles in various speed ranges
2. Problems involving aeroelasticity and unsteady aerodynamics
3. Methods and application of analytical techniques in dynamic stability problems

The material is considered suitable for providing aeronautical engineering students with background information and working knowledge in a number of specialized fields which are usually omitted or discussed only briefly in an undergraduate curriculum.