The Power to Fly: An Engineer's Life

by Brian H. Rowe, M. Ducheny

Moving on from the conceptual design of an aircraft, it becomes necessary to lay down the details of the airframe. This is effectively done in two stages--derivation of the applied loading and layout/sizing of the primary structural members. In his latest contribution to the literature Aircraft Loading and Structural Layout Denis Howe provides comprehensive coverage of all aspects of loading actions analysis, together with the logical extension to the conceptual design of the airframe. He thereby meets two perceived needs that are not currently addressed by existing aircraft design texts, where loading analysis tends to be dealt with somewhat superficially, treating only the basic symmetric flight envelope, and where structural analysis often assumes that a certain level of design detail has already been established. The author's comprehensive lecture notes, accumulated during 45 years of teaching aircraft design at Cranfield University provided the basis for this valuable reference text that offers a straightforward, systematic approach to the quantitative derivation of the initial structural concept. Readers will find a simple, logical, sequence to derive the form, location and a

208 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2004

Reviews

[Stephen Fridrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book for a number of reasons. First I enjoy and value history. After all, this is an auto-biography about Brian H. Rowe. Second, I too worked at GE Aviation and could relate to many of the programs and people that are described. Third, the story is easy to read and moves along at a nice pace. The technology of jet engines is fascinating and complex. Market forces play a pivotal role as well.
I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in the aerospace industry, and in particular in jet engines.

[Júlio Moreira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Brian H. Rowe has, in deed, lived a full life.
There are many parts of the book that I liked, but I found these two frases very interesting:

1- “I still feel that, as Ed Bavaria says, "There are some airlines that are happy to have our engines and some that wish they had them!"”

2- “Again the Japanese show us that we could not count our chickens without doing everything to nurture the eggs”

[Lauren Pumpkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very specific history of GE Aerospace (GE Aviation, GE Aircraft Engines, etc). Niche topic focusing on development and commercial dynamics in the era of large commercial aircraft (747, 777, Airbus 300).