Book Reviews

AEROSPACE / NOVEMBER 201944

Afterburner

THE GRAND DESIGNERS

Top left: Captain Frank Sowter Barnwell OBE AFC FRAeS, 1880-1938. RAeS (NAL).

Top right: Bristol Bulldog IIA, K2227, formerly G-ABBB, alongside a Bristol Fighter. Both aircraft types were designed by Frank Barnwell. RAeS (NAL).

Above left: Edgar O Schmued 1899-1985. San Diego Air and

Space Museum Archive.

Above right: The North American P-51 Mustang was one of several types designed by Ed Schmued. RAeS (NAL).

The Evolution of the Airplane in the 20th Century. Cambridge Centennial of Flight seriesBy J D Anderson

Cambridge University Press, University Printing House, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8BS, UK. 2018. x; 306pp. Illustrated. £39.99. ISBN 978-0-521-81787-5.

“In the first over-all design .... no pains should be spared to get the best and most compact disposition of external parts, and the best sizes and forms for them. .... If this is done, using with due common sense every source of reliable data, and doing everything methodically and thoroughly, it is highly probable that the results will be good, and if one goes on working thus in subsequent designs, altering up empirical constants as found necessary or advisable from increasing experience, one will design better machines, and will know why they are improved.”[From F S Barnwell and W H Sayers Aeroplane Design and A Simple Explanation on Inherent Stability (London: McBride, Nast & Co. 1917)]

In his latest book John Anderson has extended his historical survey of aviation by selecting and comparing six aircraft designers who he considers worthy of the accolade ‘Grand Designer’. Noting the enormous development in the capability of aircraft through the 20th century he asks whether this was driven by ‘a parallel advancement in the intellectual methodology of airplane conceptual design’.

Anderson is well known for his numerous books on the theory of flight and the history of aviation, characterised by their clear and easy to read style. This, too, is an informative text from this much respected author. His chosen designers are the Wright brothers, Frank Barnwell, Arthur Raymond, R J Mitchell, Edgar Schmued and Kelly Johnson, ‘arguably the grandest’.

The account given for each subject includes their background, entry into the aviation business, education and practical training, their work and achievements. Note is made of the technical information that was available to each of them, from letters and papers, experience from racing, and technical reports from research bodies such as NACA and NASA, to proprietary research from their own organisations. Contemporary textbooks and available publications supporting design methodology are identified. Anderson gives particular emphasis to Frank Barnwell’s textbook Aeroplane Design published in 1916.

The justification Anderson uses for writing

this book is itself questionable, asking whether conceptual design changed during the century. Briefly, by the end of Chapter 3, he declares that it didn’t but, that the advances in aircraft capability were achieved through the correspondingly huge developments in technology. He concludes that Barnwell’s published methodology from 1916 remains substantially the same today.

Why would he ask this question (attributed to his colleague at the Smithsonian, Dr von Hardesty)? Could it be because he is an aerodynamicist, not a designer? Certainly the major focus throughout this book is on aerodynamic developments with less comment on the other aspects of the overall ‘system’ he so admires in the Wright brothers’ approach. Anderson first declared his interest in this question in a three-page ‘Aerospace Letter’ to the AIAA Journal in 2006 and claims to have had a quite positive response. Given that there is interest in the question, has he given a reasoned argument for his answer? Not really.

Anderson appears in thrall to Barnwell’s book, but does not try to explain how Barnwell could have come to write it. He does not expand on the design and drafting skills and disciplines Barnwell would have learnt working for a Clydebank shipyard, drawing up scantlings and hull lines, establishing displacement, waterline and metacentre, preparing parts lists and quantified bills of material.

Design involves a continuous stream of iterations right from the start, covering all aspects of the finished product. Labels such as conceptual and preliminary are used to distinguish phases in this stream and at best are arbitrary and used for convenience; they have been used differently at different times and by different authors and organisations. This is not a matter to be too prescriptive about. In comparison Barnwell describes clearly the iterative process, explaining

His chosen designers are the Wright brothers, Frank Barnwell, Arthur Raymond, R J Mitchell, Edgar Schmued and Kelly Johnson, ‘arguably the grandest’

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The cabin of an easyJet Airbus A319-100. Adrian Pingstone.

21st CENTURY AIRLINESConnecting the DotsBy N K Taneja

Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon OX14 4RN, UK. 2018. liv; 228pp. £44.99. ISBN 978-1-138-09313-3.

Nawal K Taneja’s book 21st Century Airlines: Connecting the Dots looks at air transport management from mainly a digital perspective, highlighting the most current and anticipated future developments of airlines and the wider air transport industry. Particularly this last point, the wider air transport industry, encapsulates new business ideas and business models, such as ‘platform businesses’, ie organisations with limited physical assets that connect buyers and sellers while adding additional value in the process.

The book has an interesting setup, with no fewer than 12 forewords by senior executives from the aviation industry, followed by six chapters written by the author. These six chapters cover important functions within airlines from network planning to revenue management and customer experience and how changes in technology, society and other industries (the book extensively refers to companies such as Uber, Airbnb and Google) have an impact on these functions.

Unlike other books in air transport management, this book has a forward-looking perspective, identifying latest trends and future developments

Overall the book gives a very good overview of the digitalisation of the airline sector and the associated potential benefits

Clarence ‘Kelly’ Leonard Johnson 1910-1990, Advanced Development Projects, the Skunk Works, Lockheed Martin. Among the many aircraft types that Kelly Johnson was responsible for were the F-104 Starfighter, U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird. RAeS (NAL).

with regards to the digitalisation of aviation management. Despite its focus on digitalisation, it is written in a way that is understandable by readers without any significant expertise in information technology; it is very much a management book, rather than an IT book. Therefore, readers who are looking for technical explanations or solutions might be disappointed, while others will find it thought-provoking and stimulating. At times the link to the physical side of the airline business (ie the operation of aircraft) could have been stronger, nevertheless anyone coming from a more ‘traditional’ airline background will find the new developments that are being discussed, very interesting.

The second part of the book (Chapter 7) consists of 13 contributions from industry experts. The contributions are a bit ‘hit-and-miss’ though. Some of the sections are excellent, providing relevant insights and discussions on some of the most recent developments from an industry perspective. However, other contributions are a bit superficial and at times feel like an advertorial and can be a bit repetitive with regards to aspects covered in other parts of the book.

Overall the book gives a very good overview of the digitalisation of the airline sector and the associated potential benefits.

Dr Robert MayerAMRAeSCentre for Air Transport ManagementCranfield University

that a number of iterations would typically be required even to achieve the example he gives, which he labels a preliminary design.

More could have been made of how to use available data and summarised experience. There is no talk of parametric studies such as found in Torenbeek, Howe, Raymer and others. There is no talk of the accuracy of initial assumptions versus the designer’s feel for what to accept. Early in the book, Anderson mentions optimisation (Intellectual Pivot Point number 7), then does not talk about it. There is no mention of sensitivity analyses, carpet plots, trade studies or reverse engineering.

Anderson talks of the importance of selecting a design point and sizing to achieve it. But, for example, structural considerations cover the whole flight envelope. As Barnwell points out “the unfortunate designer is expected to be able to produce reasonable figures showing that his detail design is such that no part of the machine has a ‘factor of safety’ of less than six under such condition , between slowest and fastest flying speeds, as imposes the greatest strain on such

a part.” Recognising the designer knows such constraints will have to be met, a more balanced book might for instance have included with the other short appendices one commenting on Barnwell’s pre-Schrenk approximation for wing spanwise loading.

Although this book is brimming with useful information and anecdotes, it seems to have missed its point. Starting by talking about “the evolution of the intellectual methodology for airplane design” invites too many preconceptions. The development of the argument from there is littered with unsubstantiated claims and unwarranted sweeping generalisations. Anderson keeps returning to his point but if you want to know about the early stages of design disregard this and go and read the opening chapters of Raymer or Gudmundsson.

In summary, The Grand Designers is an entertaining and informative book which fails to support its opening premise.

John M RobertsonCEng MIMechE MRAeS

46

Book ReviewsAfterburner

AEROSPACE / NOVEMBER 2019

payload and wheel speed, all factors which a crew must consider on a routine basis at high altitude airports.

In a chapter titled ‘Vanished’, Bibel deals with Air France Flight 447, which was missing for nearly two years, and makes comparisons with the search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370 which is still missing. In the same chapter the authors also deal with aerodynamic stalls, pitot probe icing and issues surrounding fly-by-wire aircraft, helping the reader to understand the complex interactive environment in a modern airliner and the adverse effect which that may have on basic piloting skills.

There are chapters on flight simulators and on turbulence, and a lot of information on modern ‘glass’ flight decks. Captain Hedges’ explanations of these bring out many operational perspectives. For example, there is a discussion of autopilot flight modes, and the Asiana Flight 214 accident at San Francisco is used to illustrate the implications of this automation for the pilot trying to manage the descent profile.

This book is a good read. It may not appeal to some, because at times it becomes a bit technical, resorting to graphs and formulae to explain things like co-ordinated turns and balanced field lengths. It reminds me most of the invaluable talks I had with the aircrew and engineers from whom I learned my trade as an accident investigator. As such, I think it will appeal to those who are considering such a career, and to those who want to delve into the technicalities of aircraft accidents more deeply than some other books or TV programmes tend to do.

Alan SimmonsCEng FRAeS

PLANE CRASH

The Forensics of Aviation DisastersBy G Bibel and R Hedges

Johns Hopkins University Press, c/o The Oxford Publicity Partnership Ltd, 2 Lucas Bridge Business Park, Old Greens Norton Road, Towcester NN12 8AX, UK. 2018. xi; 312pp. Illustrated. £22. ISBN 978-1-4214-2448-4.

Notwithstanding the dramatic title of this book, there is little of the sensational in its content or layout other than the events with which it deals. The book describes some of the principles and techniques by which aircraft accidents may be analysed, dividing into chapters by phase of flight, and using real-life examples as teaching aids. Accordingly, there are chapters on take-off and rejected take-off accidents, a chapter on loss-of-control in flight, and chapters on approach accidents and landing accidents, and others.

George Bibel is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of North Dakota: he has previously published similar volumes including Beyond the Black Box: the Forensics of Airplane Crashes (Johns Hopkins University Press. 2008). In this book, however, he is aided by Captain Robert Hedges, who brings his military and airline flying experience into each chapter, usually in the form of an inset box in which he outlines operational aspects which may not be well understood by the lay reader. For example, in the chapter on take-off accidents, Captain Hedges discusses the effects of density altitude on decision speed, flap setting,

It reminds me most of the invaluable talks I had with the aircrew and engineers from whom I learned my trade as an accident investigator

On 17 January 2008, British Airways Flight 38, flying in from Beijing, China, crashed just short of the runway of its destination airport, London Heathrow. All the 152 people on board escaped. Marc-Antony

Payne.