Flight Dynamics (Option of Aerospace Dynamics MSc)
Objectivesuitable for ambitious graduates seeking a course with a significant element of choice and wishing to work in the growing and challenging aerospace or related industries. Takes you on to excellent employment prospects. Recent graduates have found positions in the aerospace, automotive and related sectors. A significant number go on to do research and higher degrees. You will be taught by staff from the Aerospace Sciences Department. Teaching is supplemented by contributions from industry and other outside organisations which reinforce the applied nature of the modules.
Entry requirementsA 1st or 2nd class UK Honours degree or equivalent in mathematics, physics or an engineering discipline. Applicants who do not fulfil the standard entry requirements can apply for the Pre-Master's Course in Engineering, successful completion of which will qualify them for entry to this course for a second year of study.
Course descriptionAn understanding of the dynamic behaviour of aircraft, coupled with knowledge of the design and implementation of modern flight control systems, will be essential for the design of the next generation of aircraft. Such knowledge can be applied to a wide range of vehicles and the Flight Dynamics specialisation is intended for those wishing to develop a career in this area.
Environmental issues will ensure that aerodynamic refinement will dominate the next generation of civil transport aircraft, placing even greater emphasis on flight control and flight dynamic aspects.
In the military arena Cranfield has unparalleled experience in the design and development of unmanned air vehicles (UAVs). This has drawn heavily on aerodynamic modelling, using both wind tunnels and computational fluid dynamics (CFD), as well as flight dynamics.
Skills in the areas of flight dynamics are increasingly in demand in sectors related to aerospace such as automotive, environmental, energy and medicine.
The course consists of three main components: a group flight test (which includes modules related to the fundamental aspects of aeronautics together with laboratory exercises in the National Flying Laboratory Centre (NFLC) Jetstream aircraft), taught modules and a research thesis.
Research thesis
Typical research thesis topics have recently included:
* optimal preview control for aircraft ground handling
* station-keeping control system for a rotor-borne UAV
* performance modelling of the canard rotor wing aircraft
* unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) formation flight FCS design
* modelling and control of a propulsion controlled aircraft (PCA)
* design and validation of autopilot/flight path control system function models using non-linear dynamic inversion
* the influence of artificial feel systems dynamics on aircraft longitudinal handling qualities.
Option of Aerospace Dynamics MSc
Modules:
* Aircraft Navigation and Sensors
* Air-Vehicle Modelling and Simulation
* CFD for Aerospace Applications
* Compressible Flow
* Control Systems
* Engine Aerodynamics
* Experimental Aerodynamics
* Flight Dynamics Principles
* Flying Qualities and Flight Control
* Fundamentals of Rotorcraft Performance, Stability and Control
* Fundamentals of Supersonic Aircraft Design
* Launch and Re-Entry Aerodynamics
* Supercritical Aerofoil Design
* Introduction to Computational Fluid Dynamics
* Introduction to Transonic Flow
* Launch and Re-Entry Aerodynamics
* Modelling of Dynamic Systems
* Multivariable Control Systems for Aerospace Applications
* Supercritical Aerofoil Design
* Technology for Sustainable Aviation
* Viscous Flow
* Group Flight Test Report