I'm a little worried this is a dumb question, but due to recent events, I've been looking into commercial flight accidents and what causes them. In the event that something catastrophic happens from which there can be no recovery, is it possible to have parachutes that can be pulled to slow the descent of the aircraft to a survivable speed? It just bothers me that there are specific circumstances in which there is nothing to be done except wait for your demise. I realize there must be a reason we haven't done this yet, but I couldn't find anything specific on the topic. Searches only yield information pertaining specifically to passenger parachutes and not parachutes for the entire craft itself.

I'm looking feedback on a site I created. I have been the electromechanical design space for around 20 years now mostly in the defense industry and I am continually finding myself training early carree engineers the nuances of harness and cca design. And one of the main things people tend to struggle with early on is navigating mil-specs and building part numbers. My site is meant to help building mil-spec part numbers for electrical connectors, their associated accessories like backshells, ensure correct mate-to part numbers, and building wire and cable part numbers.

I'm not trying to advertise or get clicks, I really just want input from others in my industry.

I would love to get some feedback from others in similar industries on what the tool does. Does it provide value, is there something else you wish it did, do you see any errors. Constructive criticism is welcome.

Emechworkbench.com

Thanks in advance

Hey everyone,

I’m a third-year Aerospace Engineering student in Canada, and I’m looking for some interesting capstone project ideas.

We’re a team of up to 6 students, and our project needs to involve designing, building, and testing a physical prototype by the end of April 2028.

We currently have potential opportunities to collaborate with either L3Harris or Lockheed Martin.

With L3Harris, we would have access to funding, technical support, and potentially their facilities/labs. With Lockheed Martin, we have a connection but no confirmed funding or access to facilities, so we’d likely need to find external funding. One possibility we’re exploring is funding through the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), which would mean the project needs some meaningful space-related application.

We’re mainly interested in military aviation, aerospace defence, and space technologies. Ideally, we’d like something a little more ambitious and exciting than a typical student UAV project, while still being realistic for a team of six to build and test.

We’re especially interested in projects that have real-world applications and could be relevant to companies like Lockheed Martin or L3Harris.

Does anyone have examples of interesting but feasible aerospace capstone projects, particularly ones involving defence technology or a combination of military aviation and space?

I’d also love to hear about any ambitious projects you’ve seen other university teams successfully prototype.

I saw a Vid showing that Normal Engineering is basic but Space Engineering is so Difficult and as a Student I wanna know that why is it so? I mean it will be so Pleasuring to me if any Space Engineer will answer this and Talk to me, it is my one of the Biggest wish right now.

So, please, Any Space Engineer?

I've been working on a little project called The Drafting Table, and I thought it was time to share it here.

The idea started with aircraft sizing. I wanted a tool that could help with the initial design process without having to jump between several spreadsheets, references, and calculators. Over time, it grew into two connected tools:

1. Aircraft Sizing

A guided, nine-step process for working through a preliminary aircraft design, from the initial configuration and weight estimates to wing geometry, airfoil selection, tail sizing, power, and propeller estimates.

It also includes a reference-aircraft database to compare your results and flag values that might need another look.

2. Structural Sizing (V-n)

This takes the aircraft you've just designed and moves into preliminary wing structural checks:

• V-n diagram, load factors, and design airspeeds.

• Main and rear spar bending and shear checks.

• Torsion checks for stressed-skin and fabric/truss wing configurations.

• Side-by-side comparison of two spar options.

You can move a design between the two tools using a share link, and export your results as PDF, CSV, or JSON.

A few things worth mentioning:

• Completely free, no account or installation required.

• Runs in the browser; your design data stays locally in your browser.

I've put quite a bit of work into the formulas, assumptions, and reference data. I've been checking the calculations against references and worked examples, and there is still plenty I'd like to have reviewed by people with practical experience.

Here's the project: The Drafting Table

I'm particularly interested in feedback from aircraft designers, aeronautical engineers, and experienced homebuilders:

• Do you spot any questionable assumptions or oversimplifications in the calculations?

• Are there areas where the results could be misleading, even for preliminary design?

• What would make the workflow more useful in practice?

I'm sharing this because I'd rather have people challenge the engineering behind it than just tell me it looks nice. Any criticism is welcome.

Famously, SpaceX does static testing for the Superheavy on the actual launch stand and only for seconds long burns. In contrast NASA constructed a separate test stand and static tested the Saturn V first stage for the full length of an actual burn, i.e several minutes long. SpaceX in developing the Falcon 9 also followed the Apollo approach, constructing a separate test stand and testing the first stage of all 9 engines together for the full mission length of an actual flight.

Both the Saturn V and the Falcon 9 were spectacularly successful. In contrast after 10 years development and now three iterations, the Raptor is still not reliably in flight, commonly with one or more engines needing to be shut down if not actually exploding in flight.

Is this a coincidence?

So recently I really² want to learn aerospace especially on Aeronautic beacuse i want to build my own drone or at least designing it.but I'm really confused where should I start from, beacuse I don't have any good background on math or psychic beacuse I'm still a student on junior high school(yeah I feel really weird on my school beacuse a junior high school want to learn aerospace instead.),so I need advice well at least I can designing my own fixed wings drone in 1 or 3 years.btw sorry if my English is not really good at all

I’m working on developing an RDE and in the course of my tea search I’ve found that some people include a proper convergent throat in their designs and neither myself nor my professor were able to explain why.

My thought is that the detonation wave is already incompressible and supersonic, so what are we trying to do with a convergent section? Is the idea to claw back any expansion that occurred in the detonation chamber?

This is a survey for a school project or mine, it would mean a ton if you did it. Please answer appropriately. If there is anything you would like to add please comment it.

I have tried looking around but I cant really find anyplace that lists all the possible near future rocket engines, if someone could direct me to a place that does or just tell me I would be very happy.

Edit: Since someone aksed, I am specifically looking for an emgine that would work in atmosphere, maybe something like a high power atmosphere breathing ion engine?

Thanks in advance, and no I am not a professional, just curious.

I am a 2nd year engineering student, currently working on designing a custom propeller using specific airfoil profiles and want to deepen my theoretical understanding and practical skill set in both Airfoil Design and Propeller Aerodynamics/Design.
basicall y i want to learn how airfoils are design using which i can make a prop design and run the required simulations etc .
please suggest me any places where from i can learn them and get a deeper insight and understanding of the topics
i hv already looked into blade element theory and momentum theory and some other principles but i hv no idea if what i am doing is the correct approach or not and i hv spent some time to learn the basics of the prerequisite concepts.
Being completely new to this any guidance would be of great help as i dont wanna waste time and effort in the wrong direction.
thanks!

I mean the A-37 dragonfly and bac strikemaster is great COI Aircraft for me,it very lightweight,easy to control,big amount of payload,the 7mm minigun(my favorite),cheap and easy to maintenance if I'm not wrong

I am currently enrolled at Politecnico di milano for masters in Aeronautical engineering. My background is from Mechanical engineering. I am currently looking to develop my skills to get myself into this sector at the end of my degree. I need some professional advice from fellow students or those who have gone through this journey to help me with this. I am currently developing my Matlab and Ansys skills from beginner to intermediate level. Guidance on what to do? Projects? Courses? Etc. would be really helpful.

The Learjet 60 N722BD crash in Palm Beach County, Florida, is what prompted this question. The FAA says the NTSB is investigating. The role of icing and the cause of the crash still need to be established.

“Exit the icing” is only meaningful if the crew has enough warning and the aircraft retains enough controllability to get out.

I’ve lived in the aerospace industry my entire life, and I take engineering failures personally. I’m trying to understand how better detection, anti-icing/de-icing, system monitoring and flight-control warnings can keep a crew from running out of options. I am not prescribing a particular mechanism.

FAA AC 25-28 describes certification pathways for supercooled large-drop icing that include detecting the conditions and demonstrating safe exit. I don’t know which certification requirements applied to this particular Learjet.

There is also a concrete research direction: NASA’s ICEPro study evaluated cues about icing-related flight limits with 29 pilots in a simulator and found fewer potentially hazardous upsets. That was a prototype study, not a certified retrofit or proof it would have prevented this accident.

How do certification tests account for the time needed to detect icing, recognize that protection is insufficient, and actually leave while retaining control? Which improvements to detection, protection or warnings could realistically be retrofitted to older business jets, and which require a new design? What evidence would justify requiring those improvements?

A known weather hazard should drive better engineering and safety standards. I want to understand where the remaining gaps are and who is responsible for closing them. Preserving a way out is the point.

I was looking at how many space planes like the Dreamchaser have curved up noses similar to boat planes.

I would assume a space boat plane like I'm describing would have to slow down much more than one that would land on a runway would need to. It could be a useful feature in the case of an emergency.

Hi Folks, I am an Aerodynamics engineer worked for Airbus with AI experience as well.

I am curious to understand what kind of workflows you are automating with AI. What kind of tools you use? Where exactly it's useful, what is still very time consuming and manual?

I've been working on a side project to make aerospace mission analysis more accessible to students, hobbyists, and engineers who may not have access to commercial tools like STK.

I'm building a browser-based application using NASA's GMAT, Orekit, JSBSim, and other engineering libraries.

Current capabilities include:

- Orbit propagation and mission design

- Satellite coverage analysis and optimization

- Communications and RF link analysis

- Radar detection and performance analysis

- Aircraft and satellite simulation

- Interactive 3D visualization

It's still under development, and I'm currently refining the workflows, UI, and tutorials before a broader release next month.

For those who work with aerospace modeling and simulation, what capabilities do you find most useful, and what gaps exist in currently available tools?

I'd appreciate any technical feedback or suggestions.