Get hands-on understanding of Flight mechanics. Apply it to the critical review of a flight accident report, or to the set up of a flight test program, or for drafting the preliminary design of an airplane.

4.8

stars

177 ratings

Eric Poquillon

2,874 already enrolled

Offered By

Fundamentals of Flight mechanics SpecializationISAE-SUPAERO

What you will learn

How Mach number can impact stall speed.
Why turboprops consume less than turbojets.
What exactly mean indications given by flight instruments (i.e. anemometer, altimeter).
Use precise and appropriate words to describe an airplane and its motion in the air.

Skills you will gain

About this Specialization

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How do planes take off? How do they fly? How do pilots maintain control of them? And how high can airplanes fly? Get answers to all these questions and more with this specialization exploring the fundamentals of flight mechanics. You will learn how the laws of physics apply to airplanes and discover important concepts in aviation including lift, drag, and propulsion.

Applied Learning Project

In each course, learners are invited to complete exercises in the form of case studies to put into practice the skills they have learned. These exercises are built around simulators allowing the manipulation of variables defined by the learner himself.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online courses

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Coursera Labs

Includes hands on learning projects.

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Flexible Schedule

Set and maintain flexible deadlines.

Beginner Level

Approximately 3 months to complete

Suggested pace of 2 hours/week

English

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Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online courses

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Coursera Labs

Includes hands on learning projects.

Learn more about Coursera Labs

Flexible Schedule

Set and maintain flexible deadlines.

Beginner Level

Approximately 3 months to complete

Suggested pace of 2 hours/week

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

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How the Specialization Works

Take Courses

A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.

Hands-on Project

Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.

Earn a Certificate

When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.

There are 4 Courses in this Specialization

Course1

Course 1

Flight mechanics - The basis

4.6

stars

241 ratings

More than one century after the Wright brothers' first flight, the flight still defy our intuition. You will learn here how to name the different parts of the airplane and how to describe and quantify its geometry. For that, we need now to share a precise vocabulary to describe the airplane's movement and attitude in space, and a refresher on basic general mechanic principles. You will remind how Newton's 2nd law allows you to determine what force must be applied on an apple - or on an airplane, to modify the magnitude and direction of its speed. Coming back on the concepts of kinetic energy and potential energy, you will discover the very useful concept of total height and you will be able to explain how an airplane can quickly exchange speed for altitude, while changes in total height are much slower.

In the end, you will discover that only a very small number of forces apply on an airplane in flight and that you will be able to classify those that change its energy state and those that modify its trajectory. You will discover the concept of load factor and understand why the pilot of a combat aircraft can feel a weight nine-time greater than his actual weight! Finally, we will establish the lift and propulsion equations, that form the basis of flight mechanics, and you will be able to compute the lift and thrust necessary to follow a given trajectory at a given speed. This course is for anybody interested in learning more about how planes work, the physics of flying, or flight mechanics. It will be of particular interest to undergraduate students in aerospace engineering, trainees as well as senior pilots, journalists, and professionals in the aeronautics sector. Although some mathematical formalism may be present sometimes. It is always doubled by sketches, figures, and hands-explanations. So that, anybody can skip the formulas without losing the core understanding of the concepts. No apples were harmed in the making of this course... This course is only a foretaste of the mechanics of flight. ISAE-SUPAERO and Eric Poquillon will offer you other courses and the first specialization in autumn 2021. Initially, three courses will be published to answer several questions: Can we fly as high as we want? What is a stall? Why do some planes have propellers and others have jet engines? Is an airplane always stable? How do you control an airplane following an engine failure? All this and more will be covered in this series of flight mechanics courses. This course is a part of the specialization "Fundamentals of Flight mechanics".

Course2

Course 2

Flight Mechanics - Anemobarometry

4.9

stars

29 ratings

This course focuses on the physics of the atmosphere and its consequences on speed and altitude measurements.

At the end of this course, you will understand precisely the meaning of the speed and altitude indication available to the pilot of an airplane. You will understand the difference between standard and actual atmosphere and be able to perform basic altitude and speed correction computations. You will understand why jet airliners need to be pressurized, or why a clogged Pitot tube can mislead a pilot. Although some math equations are used from time to time to justify certain results. This course insists on curve shapes, figures, tables, and you can efficiently follow it while skipping the equation-solving parts if you do not fancy them. This course is a part of the specialization "Fundamentals of Flight mechanics".

Course3

Course 3

Flight mechanics - Lift and trajectory

4.8

stars

24 ratings

In this course, you will understand the influence of the angle of attack and speed on the lift. Then we will focus on hazards and limitations, like stall, spiral dive, or flutter.

You will understand why stall phenomenon and Mach number limit the maximum lift and altitude the airplane can achieve. Then, you must understand what is flutter and why the altitude and speed of the airplane must be restricted to a safe domain. In the end, we will explain how to control the trajectory of the airplane and the relation with lift and load factor. This course is a part of the specialization "Fundamentals of Flight mechanics".

Course4

Course 4

Flight mechanics - Propulsive balance and energy

4.7

stars

16 ratings

This course is dedicated to energy management, i.e. speed and altitude control.

The various sources of drag are first described and modeled, as well as thrust origin, and evolution with speed and altitude. Using these models, we can evaluate the propulsive balance and derive important concepts like flight regimes, best climb speed, or propulsion ceiling. We take then a glance at cruise performances and the evolution of range with weight. This course is a part of the specialization "Fundamentals of Flight mechanics".

Instructor

Eric Poquillon

Lead flight test engineer

10,522 Learners

4 Courses

Offered by

ISAE-SUPAERO

ISAE-SUPAERO, world leader in aerospace engineering higher education, has trained over 21,000 highly skilled engineers since its creation in 1909. We have been educating students to have the most advanced scientific and engineering skills, helping the aeronautics and space industry to anticipate and adapt to the latest scientific, economic and social changes.  We welcome the best students from all over the world and educate them to be future responsible leaders driving the development of our society and contributing to technological innovation in aeronautics and space.  Located in Toulouse, France, we benefit from a unique ecosystem, both at the heart of the European capital for aeronautics and space and of a thriving aerospace higher education and research campus.

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Time to completion can vary based on your schedule and experience level, but most learners are able to complete the Specialization in about 4 months.
What background knowledge is necessary?
This specialization is designed to address a wide range of people and has no mandatory prerequisites. However, notions such as force and moment, mechanical energy, fundamental principle of dynamics, and notion of derivative will help to better follow some demonstrations.
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We recommend that you take the courses in the order they are presented. This will help you to improve your skills.
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These courses are completely online, so you don't have to physically show up in a classroom. You can access your course videos, readings, and assignments anytime, anywhere, via the web, with a computer, or a smartphone (although for some activities the latter is not recommended).
How often is each course in this Specialization offered?
Each course in the Specialization is offered on a regular schedule. If you don't complete a course on the first try, you can easily transfer to the next session, and your completed work and grades will carry over.

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Fundamentals of Flight mechanics Specialization

What you will learn

Skills you will gain

About this Specialization

Applied Learning Project