Syllabus and Assignments for

Aircraft Flight Dynamics

Robert Stengel

School of Engineering and Applied Science
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Princeton University

• Week 1
  • Introduction, Mathematical Preliminaries
• Week 2
  • Point-Mass Dynamics and Forces
  • Low-Speed Aerodynamics: 2-D
• Week 3
  • Low-Speed Aerodynamics: 3-D
  • Induced Drag and High-Speed Aerodynamics
• Week 4
  • Aerodynamic Moments
  • Cruising Flight Performance: Power and Thrust
• Week 5
  • Cruising Flight Performance: Flight Envelope
  • Gliding, Climbing, and Turning Performance
• Week 6
  • Aircraft Equations of Motion: Translation and Rotation
  • Aircraft Equations of Motion: Flight Path Computation
• Week 7
  • Control Devices and Systems
  • Linearized Equations of Motion
• Week 8
  • Longitudinal Dynamics
  • Lateral-Directional Dynamics
• Week 9
  • Analysis of Time Response
  • Transfer Functions and Frequency Response
• Week 10
  • Root-Locus Analysis of Parameter Variations and Feedback Control
• Week 11
  • Advanced Problems of Longitudinal Dynamics
  • Flying Qualities Criteria
• Week 12
  • Advanced Problems of Lateral-Directional Dynamics
  • Maneuvering at High Angle and Angular Rate
• Week 13
  • Aeroelasticity and Fuel Slosh
  • Flight at High Speed and Altitude

• Term Report, due on "Dean's Date"

Homework Assignments

Principal References

• Stengel, R., Flight Dynamics, Second Edition, Princeton University Press, 2022.
• Abzug, M., and Larrabee, E., Airplane Stability and Control: A History of the Technologies that Made Aviation Possible, Cambridge University Press, 2002.

Supporting Reference

• Stengel, R., Optimal Control and Estimation, Dover Publications, 1994.
• Stengel, R., Introduction to Aircraft Flight Dynamics: A Virtual Reference Book, 2013.

Aircraft Flight Dynamics