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Applied Aerodynamics Technical References

This page contains a list of recommended techical references for the field of applied aerodynamics. The documents are considered to be fundamentally important to the field. Document types include textbooks, reports, and journal articles. The purpose of the list is two-fold: to offer a new worker in applied aerodynamics a list of recommended contents of a personal library, and to facilitate an exchange of favored references between applied aerodynamics practitioners. The list is based on recommendations of members of the AIAA Applied Aerodynamics Technical Committee.

Recommended References

Vehicle Aerodynamics

Title: Missile Configuration Design
Author: S.S. Chin
Format: Reference
Source: Out of print. Last reproduced by University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, 1961, reprinted in 1986
Comment: Aerodynamics is given primary emphasis during preliminary configuration design of missiles. The material is slanted primarily towards the aerodynamicist in preliminary design. The book contains a lot of useful "back of the envelope" information.
Title: Fluid-Dynamic Lift
Author: S. F. Hoerner and H.V. Borst
Format: Reference
Source: Hoerner Fluid Dynamics, P.O. Box 342, Brick Town, N.J. 08723, 1985
Comment: Information on lift and it's derivatives
Title: Fluid-Dynamic Drag
Author: S. F. Hoerner
Format: Reference
Source: Hoerner Fluid Dynamics, P.O. Box 342, Brick Town, N.J. 08723, 1965
Comment: Theoretical, experimental, and statistical information on drag.
Title: Missile Aerodynamics
Author: Jack N. Nielsen
Format: Reference
Source: University Microfilms International Ann Arbor, Michigan USA, 1960, reprinted in 1988 (800-521-0600 or 313-761- 4700)
Comment: The "Bible" of missile aerodynamics.
Title: Lift, and Center of Pressure of Wing-Body-Tail Combinations at Subsonic, Transonic and Supersonic Speeds
Author: Pitts, William C., Nielsen, Jack N., and Kaattari, George E.
Format: NACA Report
Source: NACA Report 1307, 1959
Comment: The fundamental work behind the "component build- up" method for estimating aircraft aerodynamic characteristics. Contains charts and equations for wing-body and wing-tail interference. This report is the basis for the USAF Datcom and many similar documents and computer codes.
Title: Aerodynamics of V/STOL Flight
Author: McCormick, Barnes
Format: Textbook
Source: Academic Press, 1967
Comment: Aerodynamics and performance of a variety of V/STOL concepts including helicopters, jet flaps, tilt wing, ducted propellers, fan-in-wing, augmenter wings, and ground effect machines. Some of the concepts are dated.
Title: Theory of Wing Sections
Author: Ira H. Abbott and Albert E. von Doenhoff
Format: Paperback textbook
Source: Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1959
Comment: Data source on 2D airfoil cross sections, including coordinates and force coefficients.

Flight Dynamics

Title: Dynamics of Atmospheric Flight
Author: Bernard Etkin
Format: Text/reference
Source: John Wiley and Sons Inc., 1972
Comment: Good reference for general equations of motion, longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics, lateral aerodynamic characteristics, and their effects on stability and control.
Title: Stability and Control of Airplanes and Helicopters
Author: Seckel, Edward
Format: Textbook
Source: Academic Press, 1964
Comment: Excellent discussion of fundamental aerodynamic, stability and control concepts including many useful equations.

Fluid Dynamics

Title: The Dynamics and Thermodynamics of Compressible Fluid Flow, Volumes I and II.
Author: Ascher H. Shapiro
Format: Hardcover textbook
Source: The Ronald Press Company, New York, 1953.
Comment: Certainly one of the most widely used texts on compressible flow.
Title: Basic Equations of Engineering Science
Author: William F. Hughes and Eber W. Gaylord
Format: Paperback textbook
Source: Schaum Publishing Co., New York, 1964
Comment: Includes a good source for the Navier-Stokes equations in many forms and coordinate systems.
Title: Theoretical Hydrodynamics
Author: L. M. Milne-Thompson
Format: Hardcover textbook
Source: The Macmillan Company, New York, 3rd ed, 1966
Comment: A good reference on the use of complex variables for fluid flow solutions.
Title: Shape and Flow (The Fluid Dynamics of Drag)
Author: Ascher H. Shapiro
Format: Paperback
Source: Doubleday & Company, Inc., New York, 1961
Comment: A nonmathematical introduction to fluid flow including many photographs visualizing fluid effects.
Title: Elements of Hypersonic Aerodynamics
Author: R. N. Cox and L. F. Crabree
Format: Hardcover textbook
Source: The English Universities Press LTD, London, 1965
Comment: Most of the basic analytical methods for hypersonic flow.
Title: Computational Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer
Author: John C. Tannehill, Dale A. Anderson, and Richard H. Pletcher
Format: Hardcover textbook
Source: Taylor & Francis, Washington, 2nd ed, 1997
Comment: The text on CFD.
Title: Equations, Tables, and Charts for Compressible Flow (Report 1135)
Author: Ames Research Staff
Format: NACA Report
Source: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1953
Comment: Widely used classic on the basic 1D and quasi-1D equations of compressible flow. An excellent compendium of the equations for calorically perfect gas flow including oblique shock crossings, wedge flow, Taylor-Maccoll flow (supersonic sharp cone), and Prandtl-Meyer flow. Includes some nonideal gas models. Tables and many charts. Don't leave Earth without it.
Title: Convective Heat and Mass Transfer
Author: William M. Kays and Michael E. Crawford
Format: Hardcover textbook
Source: McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 2nd ed., 1980
Comment: A practical and readable source for many of the equations of fluid dynamics. Includes analytical and empirical results.
Title: Viscous Fluid Flow
Author: Frank Mangrem White
Format: Hardcover textbook
Source: McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1974
Comment: One of the most readable textbooks on fluid dynamics in existence.
Title: Applied Fluid Dynamics Handbook
Author: Robert D. Blevins
Format: Hardcover textbook
Source: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 1984
Comment: A large compilation of empirical data on fluid dynamics, including drag coefficients, total pressure loss coefficients, discharge coefficients, wake shear-layer spreading, atmospheric properties, porous media, and data on bearings and seals.
Title: Boundary Layer Theory
Author: Hermann Schlichting
Format: Hardcover textbook
Source: McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 7th ed., 1979
Comment:
Title: Gas Dynamics
Author: Maurice J. Zucrow and Joe D. Hoffman
Format: Text/reference
Source: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1976
Comment: Covers the basics of gas dynamics. Includes the derivation of governing equations and lots of examples.

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