Master the principles of flight with an award-winning professor and Smithsonian curators.
Overview
Syllabus
- By This Professor
- 01: Fundamentals of Flight: Gliding
- 02: Balloons, Buoyancy, and the Atmosphere
- 03: Takeoff: How Wings Produce Lift
- 04: Drag Trade-Offs and Boundary-Layer Turbulence
- 05: Stall Events and Lift-Induced Drag
- 06: Wind Tunnels and Predicting Aerodynamics
- 07: Propeller Aircraft: Slow and Efficient
- 08: Jet Aircraft: Thrust to Fly Fast
- 09: Aircraft Structures and Materials
- 10: Aircraft Stability and Flight Control
- 11: Flying Faster and Higher
- 12: Breaking the Sound Barrier and Beyond
- 13: Long-Distance Flight and Predicting Range
- 14: Aerobatics and Dogfighting
- 15: Mission Profiles and Aircraft Design
- 16: Primary Cockpit Instruments
- 17: Air Traffic Navigation and Communication
- 18: Flight Autonomy and Drones
- 19: Helicopters and Vertical Flight
- 20: Rocket Science and the Evolution of Launch
- 21: Orbiting Earth Means Always Falling
- 22: To Mars and Beyond: Gravity-Assist Flight
- 23: Atmospheric Reentry: Ballistic, Skip, Glide
- 24: The Future of Air and Space Flight
- 25: Bonus Material: Gustave Eiffel's Wind Tunnels
- 26: Bonus Material: Engineering Faster Flight Speeds
- 27: Bonus Material: Why the Wright Flyer Succeeded
- 28: Bonus Material: The Wright Brothers' Innovations
- 29: Bonus Material: Higher, Farther, Faster
Taught by
James W. Gregory
