The Grainger College of Engineering
Aerospace Engineering

Applied Aerodynamics and Aircraft Systems Exam Information

All students taking the Applied Aerodynamics and Aircraft Systems  qualifying exam will be required to pass both a written and an oral exam.

Written component – The written component shall be a 2 hour, written, closed-book examination.  The written questions will test knowledge of applied aerodynamics and aircraft systems topics (based on the general list and references given below) and the following courses: a) AE 416, b) AE 419, c) AE 433.

Oral component – The oral component, to be administered after the written exam (generally within 2 weeks), will consist of questions that assess requisite knowledge, interdisciplinary connectivity, and design reasoning related to aircraft systems.  The duration of the oral exam will not exceed 1 hour.

The examination committee will consist of at least three faculty members from the College of Engineering with expertise in aircraft systems, subject to the following restrictions:

  • At least one examination committee member shall be a faculty member in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and an active member of the AAAS group.
  • Each examination committee will feature a designated chair. The chair shall be responsible for ensuring all required parties, materials, and resources are present for the examination.
  • The chair of the subcommittee will be the thesis advisor of the student taking the exam. If the student’s thesis advisor is not a faculty member in the AE Department, the Head will select a chair among the AAAS group. In this case, the non-AE faculty member can be on the subcommittee but cannot be chair.

By necessity, a student's identity may be revealed to the AAAS facutly for scheduling, planning, and testing purposes for the oral portion of the qualifying exam.

Evaluation – The AAAS primary discipline Examination Committee will grade the written exam portion “blind”, referring to the Test Number, and the oral exam will be graded by the oral exam subcommittee.  After scoring the two exams, and before recommending a result, the student's identity in the written exam will be revealed to the AAAS PD Examination Committee, and the student's Ph.D. advisor(s) will be consulted. The PD committee will then evaluate the student's exam performance. Finally, the Chair of the AAAS PD Examination Committee will communicate the exam outcome (PASS/FAIL) to the Department Head. If the student is found deficient in an area, the committee may recommend corrective measures, e.g., taking another course and earning above a certain grade, and will so state in the letter. The Head will be responsible for the final results and for communicating these to the student, the advisor, and the Graduate College.

If the QE is not passed on the second attempt, the student will be dropped from the Ph.D. program. If objections are raised to the results of a QE, the Head may call a special meeting of the faculty, or may ask the AE Graduate Policy Committee to make recommendations to the Head on issues relating to the QE.

Core Topics

Core topics for each PD are given below.

  1. Airfoil theory
    1. Airfoil performance and aerodynamic efficiency
    2. Potential flow
    3. Thin airfoil theory
    4. Viscous flow influences
    5. Compressibility effects
    6. High-lift airfoil aerodynamics
    7. Lifting line theory
  2. Aircraft performance
    1. Flight environment
    2. Aircraft drag polar
    3. Thrust and power systems
    4. Gentle climb and descent
    5. Aircraft range
  3. Aircraft flight mechanics
    1. Static stability and control
    2. Stabilizer surfaces
    3. Stability derivatives and trim
    4. Static longitudinal control and maneuvers
    5. Static lateral control and maneuvers
    6. Small perturbations and dynamic stability
  4. Air-breathing propulsion
    1. Conservation of mass, momentum, and energy
    2. Thrust equations
    3. Turbojet, turbofan, and ramjet cycles and efficiency
    4. Component analysis of compressors, turbines, combustors, and nozzles
    5. Off-design behavior
    6. Fuel consumption

Sample Texts:

  1. McCormick, B.W., Aerodynamics, Aeronautics, and Flight Mechanics, 2nd Edition, Wiley, 1994.
  2. Etkin, B. and Reid, L.D., Dynamics of Flight: Stability and Control, 3rd Edition, Wiley, 1995.
  3. Farokhi, S., Aircraft Propulsion: Cleaner, Leaner, and Greener, 3rd Edition, Wiley, 2021.