Flight mechanics - Propulsive balance and energy (Coursera)

Course 4 of 4 in the Fundamentals of Flight mechanics Specialization.

What You Will Learn

Describe the speed and altitude control of an airplane.

D​escribe relationship between thrust, speed and altitude.

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Equation of propulsion

First we will look at the physics at the origin of drag and thrust, and derive basic models and representations like the drag polar.

WEEK 2

Flight regimes

We will see here how the airspeed chosen to fly a stabilized phase of flight, like climb, final approach, or cruise, affects the behavior of the airplane, and why certain speeds are optimal for a given phase.

WEEK 3

Cruise performance

Our main subject here is the distance we can fly with a given payload and fuel quantity, and how it relates with the design and operational characteristics of the airplane.