Supplemental Resources

Lecture Notes on Configuration Aerodynamics  by William Mason and Pradeep Raj (CC-BY-NC-SA)

Practical applications of aerodynamic theory are critically important for aerodynamic design of aircraft configurations, but are often omitted from aerospace engineering curricula. Lecture Notes on Configuration Aerodynamics is an incredible resource for educating the next generation of aerospace engineering students who aspire to engage in the aerodynamic design of aircraft configurations. It shows how aerodynamic theory is applied in practice, giving students insight into what a career in aerodynamics entails. This book offers a design-oriented perspective of the development and analysis of aircraft aerodynamics. This book encompasses the aerodynamic design of flight vehicles with emphasis on flow fields and configuration concepts. Mason covers methodologies for aerodynamic analysis and design for flows ranging from low speed to high speed and includes case studies of classic configurations. [Published January 2026 by Virginia Tech.]

Textbooks

Aerodynamics and Aircraft Performance, 3rd edition by James F. Marchman III (CC BY) .

Intended for undergraduates, this text provides “stand alone” coverage of basic, subsonic, air

craft performance preceded by an introduction to the basics of aerodynamics that will provide a background sufficient to the understanding of the subjects to be studied in aircraft performance.

Aerospace Structures  by Eric Raymond Johnson (CC-by-NC-SA)

 This resource is s a 600+ page text and reference book for junior, senior, and graduate-level aerospace engineering students. The text begins with a discussion of the aerodynamic and inertia loads acting on aircraft in symmetric flight and presents a linear theory for the statics and dynamic response of thin-walled straight bars with closed and open cross-sections. Isotropic and fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials including temperature effects are modeled with Hooke’s law. Methods of analyses are by differential equations, Castigliano’s theorems, the direct stiffness method, the finite element method, and Lagrange’s equations. There are numerous examples for the response of axial bars, beams, coplanar trusses, coplanar frames, and coplanar curved bars. Failure initiation by the von Mises yield criterion, buckling, wing divergence, fracture, and by Puck’s criterion for FRP composites are presented in the examples. [Published March 18, 2022 by Virginia Tech.]