Aircraft & Aerospace Resources

By Dr. Steve O'Neil, N'Fusion, Inc.

Since the beginning of time (for humans, that is), the desire to take to the sky has been a pervasive preoccupation in the collective mind of mankind. Manifested first by airborne weapons, pictographs of flying reptiles, and later by experimental flight aids such as feathers and vines, the goal of artificial flight eluded us as a species until the time of our grandparents. For an engineering field as young as this, however, the resources and effort expended on developing flight capabilities are a testament to its comparative novelty in the development of engineered systems.

Some of the best overall sites for aircraft and flight information are centered in universities.

Not unexpectedly, some of the best overall sites for aircraft and flight information are centered in universities. A good starter is the research site at Georgia Tech. Located at http://www.ae.gatech.edu/research/index.html, this is where to go to begin researching space, rotorcraft, propulsion, and combustion resources. You can also link to their fluid mechanics and structural dynamics work, as well as flight mechanics and controls areas. The latter includes links to materials information, the Georgia Tech aerial robotics competition group (including code and control libraries), AIAA, the ASCE's Aerospace Division, and the Journal of Aerospace Engineering.

Penn State is another academic institution with good links to a wide variety of external resources. The best jumping off point is http://www.libraries.psu.edu/crsweb/eng/aerosp.htm. From here, go to the European Space Agency and the NASA home pages (CASI TRS, STI, and ASCAN, among others). There is also a link here to the Cal Tech bibliography of aerospace links that has been under continuous construction since 1994. The direct link to that is http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~padam/htmls/AeroLinks.html . Here are links to many of the NASA sub pages, links to multinational and foreign agencies all over the world, and a list of industry participants. Included in the latter are the servers of all the industry players from A. Biederman to Worldwide Aeros. Biggies such as Volvo, TRW, Raytheon, Rockwell, and the rest are also included together with hot links. Add to this government and military agencies, academic institutions, airlines and individual airports, and engineering discipline repositories, and you have a nice selection at your fingertips.

A handy selection of hot links resides at Flow Simulation Ltd's Engineering Links: Aerospace at http://www.englinks.com/aerospac.html . While they do not annotate these links, they offer a well-organized and selected grab bag of organizations (worldwide), academic and university resources, and a number of relevant newsgroups (with links). Newsgroups include aeronautics, astro research, news, science, policy, and a dozen others. Supplement this trip with a visit to the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Virtual Library at http://www.embryriddle.edu/libraries/virtual . Currently this library houses 1485 links, including new sections specifically dedicated to "Aerospace" and "Aviation." Some of the newest additions to "aerospace" selections include libraries of links to museums, manufacturers and businesses, and online services (such as AERADE, the aerospace and defense portal; aerospace online; ISIS, the Intelligent Satellite Information System; and XcalcS, a structural calculation program accessible via your browser). There are also new link sections on publications (including lesser known gems such as Air Chronicles and Flight Simulator News) and software engineering. The software links range from general trending and measurement tools to airframe design and analysis software. Surely something to warm your brain on a chilly fall day.

The aviation section at ERAU includes the standard fare of aircraft, airlines, military pictures and specifications, and publications. It has been recently enhanced by links to software, classified, jobs, etc.

A-5A on lakebed from NASA Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Gallery

Regular readers of this column know I'm a sucker for museums and historical context. Towards indulging myself in these diversions, I have to close with just a couple of sites "for fun." The first is our National Air and Space Museum at http://www.nasm.edu/. Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the museum is undergoing restoration until the end of 2001. So this may be the best way for you and yours to visit without choking on the dust of time. Visit collections of aircraft and space artifacts, check out the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (currently under construction), or participate vicariously in ongoing work at the Paul E. Graber restoration facility by live Webcam at http://www.nasm.edu/nasm/garber/cam/garbcam_java.htm .

Another good place, for photographs only, is the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center: Photo Gallery. Accessible at http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/photoServer.html , you can find digital images from the 1940s to the present. Glide from the B-29 "Superfortress" to the unmanned "Hyper-X." All photos are available for download, and in what is a refreshing use of my money, no copyright is asserted for any of these photographs. The "What's New" link shows how many images are added to the gallery each month; just click on the month for links and descriptions. Enjoy!

Steve O'Neil, Ph.D. is President of N'Fusion, Inc., an editorial and Internet consultancy which aids technology companies in integrating their print and online strategies, improving advertising and branding accountability, and building end-to-end e-commerce solutions. The company is headquartered in the Tampa Bay, FL area with offices and affiliates throughout the US, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. Steve can be reached at stephenjo@earthlink.net or 727-742-9169.