Students will begin to be prepared for their future careers in the aerospace and aviation industry; investigating and identifying potential career paths and understanding their own current position and place in society in relation to their aspirations.

Module content will include the design and operation of aircraft features such as primary and secondary flying controls, the design and operation of aircraft instruments, from pressure-driven to the complex displays in modern glass cockpit airliners, and the different types of measured airspeed and altimeter pressure settings.

An introduction to aircraft propulsion systems will be given, including IC engines, gas turbine engines (their design and operation), turbo prop, supersonic, and electrical propulsion systems, to give an understanding of this essential component of an aircraft.

A review of the multiple mechanisms of lift (both Newtonian and circulation based) and drag (parasitic and induced) will be undertaken in detail to give a thorough understanding of how lift and drag affect aircraft design. The use of high lift devices such as flaps and slats will also be covered.

Human factors will be introduced, with specific details on a) human physiology, including respiration, aircraft pressurisation, and b) human psychology, with an understanding of human error, introducing methodologies such as the dirty-dozen and the Swiss-cheese model as well as Crew Resource Management applied to human cognition, decision making and error.

A number of significant air crashes and incidents will be reviewed forensically, to enable you to gain a detailed understanding of what went wrong, how and why it happened, and what was done to prevent future incidents. The impact of many of these on future aircraft design and operation will also be explored. This will be undertaken from both an engineering and a human factors perspective. Crashes and incidents due to errors in design, maintenance, and pilot error will be reviewed, and the design of flight decks will also be included.

Innovative aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A380 will be referred to, and A320, B737 and Concorde systems will be referred to in detail throughout with use of the flight simulator to demonstrate these. The module will look at initial concepts around systems, propulsion, aerodynamics, aircraft structures, aircraft maintenance procedures and human factors. These systems-based studies will introduce students to the complexity of modern aircraft enabling them to take their studies further in specialist modules during the course.

A 4000 words assignment weighted at 100%, assessing learning outcomes 1, 2, 3 and 4. A series of questions to be answered covering specific topics covered in the module, requiring an in-depth investigation and answers. Meeting AHEP 4 Outcomes C4, C17, C18.

Professional Body requirements mean that a minimum overall score of 40% is required to pass a module, with each element of assessment requiring a minimum mark of 30% unless otherwise stated.

This module will enable students to gain understanding, apply knowledge, analyse and evaluate problems and create solutions related to the subject area through a variety of activities which will include:¿

Lectures

Seminars¿

Student-centred learning

Case studies and tutorials¿

Group problem solving activities¿

1. Demonstrate a detailed comprehension of aircraft features and their operation and practical use, including primary and secondary flying controls and aircraft instruments, including propulsion systems such as gas turbine engines. (AHEP 4: C4, C17)

Knowledge and Understanding,
Learning

2 Demonstrate a detailed comprehension of the range of mechanisms of lift and drag and the selection of aerofoil sections and high lift devices for different types of aircraft. (AHEP 4: C4, C17)

Knowledge and Understanding,
Analysis


3 Analyse human factors as applied to aviation, in particular to the interface between pilots and advanced automated aircraft, reflect on the processes involved when the interface is imperfect and on the causes of air crashes due to human error. (AHEP 4: C17)

Analysis,
Enquiry

4 Demonstrate development of key personal skills such as problem-solving and critical thinking and identify potential career paths, based on the general and specific skills required for a career within Aviation industry. (AHEP 4: C18)

Reflection

Blackboard, PCs, flight simulator, Standard office software

Anderson, J. D., (2021) Introduction to Flight ISE, 9th ed, pub McGraw Hill, ISBN 978-1260597998

Askam, M., (2021) Careers in Aerospace, Independent, ISBN 979-8455077111

Barnard, R. H., Philpott, D.R., (2010) Aircraft Flight: A Description of Physical Principles of Flight, 4th ed, Prentice Hall, ISBN 978-0273730989

Binns, C., (2019) Aircraft Systems: Instruments, Comms, Nav and Control, Wiley-IEEE, ISBN 978-1119259541

Fielding, J. P., (2017) Introduction to Aircraft Design, 2nd ed, CUP, ISBN 978-1107680791

Keebler, J. R. et al, (2022) Human Factors in Aviation and Aerospace, 3rd ed, Academic Press, ISBN 978-0124201392

Megson, T. H. G., (2021) Aircraft Structures for Engineering Students, 7th ed, Butterworth Heinmann, ISBN 978-0128228685

Royce, R., (2015) The Jet Engine illustrated, 5th ed, Wiley, ISBN 978-1119065999

In this module you will gain an in-depth understanding of aircraft systems and flight. Features such as aircraft instruments, controls and engines will be covered in depth. The multiple mechanisms of aircraft lift and drag will be studied, and human factors and decision-making errors will also be looked at in depth. Some significant air crashes and incidents will also be forensically reviewed in detail.