AVIA 305 Airplane Aerodynamics

This course will provide the student a study of the physical principles of airplane aerodynamics, thereby fostering an appreciation of the factors affecting aircraft performance, stability and control, and special flight conditions often experienced by commercial pilots of the fixed-wing aircraft.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Course Guide

View this course’s outcomes, policies, schedule, and more.*

*The information contained in our Course Guides is provided as a sample. Specific course curriculum and requirements for each course are provided by individual instructors each semester. Students should not use Course Guides to find and complete assignments, class prerequisites, or order books.


This course will prepare the student to understand and apply aerodynamic concepts, such as incompressible flow airfoil theory and wing theory, to enhance safe execution of more complex flight conditions and parameters. Topics discussed will center on calculation of stall speed, drag and basic performance criteria, configuration changes, high and low speed conditions, special flight conditions, and an introduction to compressible flow.


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After reading the Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student will submit a 2–3 minute video presentation introducing themselves to their fellow classmates. Specific elements described in the assignment are to be included. This will be a graded assignment and you must reply to at least 2 other classmate introductions as well.

Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to create a thread in response to the provided prompt. Each thread must be 250–300 words in length and demonstrate course-related knowledge. The student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be 150–200 words in length. The textbook must be the primary resource. (CLO: E)

The student will write 5 essays of 300-350-words, each in response to questions presented by the instructor. The student must use his/her textbook and assigned readings from each module as references; no other resources are required. Each essay will be submitted as an MS Word document and include citations and a reference page with current APA formatting. (CLO: A, B, C)

For the Research Paper: Final Submission Assignment, the student will submit a 1,000-1,500 word research paper on the unique aerodynamic characteristics of his/her favorite aircraft. The paper must adhere to current APA format. The length requirement does not include the title page or reference page. A minimum of 3 sources will be submitted in the Research Paper: Annotated Bibliography Assignment. An outline of the paper is also to be submitted in the Research Paper: Outline Assignment.  Each each assignment will be submitted in a MS Word document (CLO: D)

The student will take 4 quizzes in this course. Quizzes will be open-book/open-notes, and contain 30 calculated answer, multiple-choice, and true/false questions, covering information from the assigned textbook readings. These quizzes will have a time-limit of 1-hour. (CLO: A, B)


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