E473: Clarifying MumboJumbo🏫IISc🎓Course🛩️Flight✈️&🚀Space🛰️Mechanics🔭: Ref Axes, Rotations & Controls

Exposing some of the terminology in Flight Dynamics: Kine(ma)tics to Kinetics; Limitations of Newton's 2nd Law & Euler's Equation; Aerodynamic & Control Surfaces: Wing, Empannage, Ailerons, Rudder, Elevator, Flaps, Slats & Spoilers; Aircraft Rotations: Roll, Pitch & Yaw; Forces: Gravitation, Propulsion & Aerodynamics; Basis Unit Vectors Tangential to Coordinate Curves: Dextral Triads, Sign Conventions; Ref Frames: Earth-fixed,Local-horizon, Body-fixed, Wind-axes & Inertial Ref Frames; Explicit Indication of Frame Dependancy of Vector Derivatives; Lift & Drag Coefficients: Definitions & Variations with Angle of Attack; Different components of Drag; Drag Polar; Aerodynamic Center; Center of Pressure; Dihedral; Assumptions in 3 DoF Models & their 3 EoMs, Physical Explanation of Why Longitudinal Planar Motions Decouple from Lateral-Directional-Sideslip Motions.

This is a recording of the third class of the🇮🇳IISc🥼Course👨‍🎓: AE 201A (January-April 2026) 4:0 credits

🏫Course🎓Title: 🛩️Flight✈️&🚀Space🛰️Mechanics🔭 (FSM)

Welcome🙏🏽onboard🤗, fasten🪢your💺seatbelt🦺for🛫takeoff✈️, 🧨launch🚀, 🛰️orbit & 🛬more❣️🔔Here’s⏰a⏲️50-hour⏳Course⌛️on “FSM”

🗓️Schedule⏰:
Mondays🌝&🟢Wednesdays: 2PM🕑to🕓4PM: 🏛️Room#️⃣AE105; First🥇Class: January 7th 2026, 2PM🕑IST🇮🇳

Informal💬Description:
This 4️⃣-credit core course for🛩️Aerospace🚀Engineering🛰️(AE) MTech👩🏻‍💻students🧑🏽‍🎓is💯absolutely-holistic🌾in🪬its🌝approach🛣️&👼🏼nascently-introductory😇in its nature. It especially caters to those with🙅🏻‍♀️non-AE💺UG👩🏻‍🎓backgrounds, to facilitate them to self-realize & appreciate how the various other seemingly-disconnected🤔core📚courses that they have already credited in their first🥇semester beautifully😻merge🫱🏾‍🫲🏿together🤗in🤔a❄️wonderful🎶symphony, rendering the🤩amazing🪄magic🧚🏿of🛫heavier-than-air🌬️💨flight🛩️a🛬distinct👍🏼possibility🫡, not only to delectably😋savour👅for oneself, but also be amply🧐inspired to eventually & innovatively leverage existing & upcoming tools (including🤖AI/ML/robotics🦾) to design newer better performing &/or more efficient flying vehicles with additional &/or improved📈capabilities, accomplishing hitherto undreamt of tasks🐂for👥others👽too‼️

AE201A is therefore open to anyone, at any level of education, who is interested in grasping the🔡basics🔢of the physics of✈️flight, both🌎in🌍any🌏planetary🪐atmospheres☄️&/or🔭in🚀inter-planetary🌌space🛰️, employing mostly🏫high-school-level📐math & at the most∂bachelors-level🧮calculus❣️

Formal📚Syllabus:

📕Part I of II: Flight Mechanics:
1. Atmosphere;
2. Essentials of Aerodynamics & Propulsion;
3. Aircraft Performance;
4. Static Stability;
5. Equations of Motion: 3 DoFs & 6 DoFs;
6. Attitude Representation;
7. Dynamic Stability Essentials;
8. Flight Control Overview; &
9. Launch Vehicle Flight Essentials.

📘Part II of II: Space Mechanics:
1. Orbits in 2D & 3D;
2. Orbital Manoeuvres;
3. Docking;
4. Interplanetary Trajectories;
5. Planetary Entry;
6. Descent & Landing;
7. Lagrange Points & Halo Orbits;
8. Orbital Perturbations;
9. Orbits in the Time Domain; &
10. Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics Essentials.

🗣️Instructor: Dineshkumar Harursampath [dineshkumar@iisc.ac.in & harursampath@gmail.com]

🗣️TAs: NMCADet PhD students:
1. IAF Gp. Capt. Nanjappa Hebbale [nanjappar@iisc.ac.in & nanjappahebbale@gmail.com]; &
2. Mr. Singepogu Chinnababu [singepogub@iisc.ac.in & singepoguchinnababu@gmail.com]

🧳Pre-requistes: None

📙TextBooks:
1. Introduction to Flight: John D Anderson; &
2. Dynamics of Flight: Stability & Control: Bernard Etkin & Lloyd D Reid.

📗References:
1. Aircraft Performance & Design: John D Anderson; &
2. Fundamentals of Airplane Flight Mechanics: David G Hull.

Thanks for many of your kind compliments & enquiries on various platforms regarding this course. The live sessions are restricted to IISc students in-person only. However, as always with my classes, the 4K 120fps HDR recordings will be shared publicly on YouTube: https://shorturl.at/CajWD, well within 24 hours of each class.

It’s a sheer pleasure & rare privilege to share the little bit of knowledge & wisdom gained over many orbits, from so many gurus, back to my academic & spiritual siblings… amongst the many wonderful stalwarts who taught me at Margaret, SDA, St. Joseph’s, IIT-M, IISc & Georgia Tech, this one ☝️, in particular, is dedicated to my GOAT teacher: Late Prof S. Pradeep, AE, IISc, who taught us this very subject in two separate courses, or rather freaky roller coaster 🎢 joyrides 🥹 & whom we unfortunately ☠️ lost 😞 in an untimely manner & couldn’t so far find even half a replacement❣️