From Biplanes to Reusable Launch Vehicles: 75 Years of Aircraft Design at Cal Poly

Abstract

While many universities can boast of making contributions to the development of aeronautical science, few universities have maintained their focus on aircraft design as the key feature of their curricula. Cal Poly's aeronautics education has a constant thread running from its inception in 1927 to the present: teaching students with a "learn by doing" philosophy, applying knowledge through hands-on laboratory instruction and realworld design projects. Aeronautics students graduating from Cal Poly have already experienced the rigors and excitement of designing, building, and often flying their concepts long before they begin their careers in the aerospace industry. While this approach to education is not for everyone, it has stood the test of time and has produced notable leaders in the aerospace industry.

Decades of Innovation in Aircraft Design Education

“…[1][2][3] The design curriculum, while being quite successful today, was very different in the past and has evolved a great deal over the past sixty years. During the 1930s and 1940s, for example, students learned how to construct and maintain an airplane, but did not learn very much about the theoretical basis for design.…”

“…Specifically, ADP allowed for improved education through the use of teaching assistants to work with the design students, greatly improving the contact hours the students received while working on their designs. Also, ADP provided a forum for the students to present their work to NASA engineers and faculty of other engineering schools, 3 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics something which obviously improved the excitement (and tension) of the students. To put it mildly, the USRA ADP objectives listed above make for a good description of many of the features of the design program at Cal Poly.…”

The Happy Accidents of Teaching Aircraft Design

“…[4][5][6] The design course has evolved over the past fifty years from a course where students learned how to construct an airplane to courses where they perform detailed preliminary design of an aircraft, including many of its systems. This evolution has been greatly enhanced by Cal Poly's participation in the NASA/University Space Research Association Program (USRA) and NASA's Aircraft Multidisciplinary Design and Analysis Fellowship Program (AMDAF), enabling the department to give students a more intensive aircraft design experience by allowing them to work on realworld design problems.…”

Designing a Green Aircraft; Cal Poly's 2009 Undergraduate Aircraft Designs

“…The Senior Aircraft Design course at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo has evolved over the years into a highly regarded design program [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] . In the 2008-2009 academic year, the students in the course responded to the design competition with six team submittals.…”