One of the convenient things about working in a physics-based field of engineering is that physics hasn’t really changed in…well, ever.
We’ve seen expansion packs like quantum mechanics and nuclear physics. But the base game of Newtonian physics hasn’t changed. What this means is that even books that are decades old are just as useful as anything published this century.
I’d argue they’re even more useful: many were written by smart people who didn’t have the advantage of computer simulations to help them. Everything in these books was figured out through real physical experimentation and observation.
I have a handful of these on my office bookshelf, and I reach for them on nearly every project. They’re just that great. Here are a few that I’ve found myself cracking open time and time again:
- Aircraft Design: A Conceptual Approach by Daniel P. Raymer is more or less the handbook for designing an airplane.
- Like the name suggests, it’s much heavier on concepts and recommendations than equations, but that’s what makes it so valuable: it helps you understand the fundamentals instead of just doing plug-and-chug calculations. In theory, this also makes it more approachable for people who aren’t aircraft designers but still interested in the craft.
- There are plenty of comparisons to historical data throughout. I use the recommendations for static stability derivatives regularly, since they’re based on the characteristics of real aircraft.
- Years ago, I learned a specific method of estimating skin friction drag from one of my mentors (who was the Real Deal and had previously worked at places like Skunk Works). That’s the same method found in this book, which is pretty neat.
- Aircraft Performance Stability and Control by Courtland D. Perkins and Robert E. Hage was recommended to me by a college friend and has more than earned its place on my bookshelf. This is one of those books that was published in the 1940s but is still useful today.
- This book is much more technical than Raymer’s, so it’s not for the casual reader. That technical depth is fantastic though, as it provides genuinely practical information on aircraft controls design and performance calculations.
- One highlight is that it provides detailed methods for sizing control surfaces for all three axes (elevator, rudder, ailerons). It’s the only resource I’ve found so far that provides a clear method to size ailerons.
- The cherry on top is the book references numerous NACA reports (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the precursor of NASA) and includes modified copies of their data plots. You can then find the NACA report itself and get the full details of the actual physical tests that were done to create those plots. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.
I’ve got more favorites beyond these. But if you told me I could only keep two books out of my library? I’d pick Raymer, and Perkins & Hage.
I’m genuinely curious—those of you who are also in the aero industry, are there any books in your library that you treasure most? And if you work in a different field, is there a book or other resource that is your go-to?