Introduction To The Aerospace Industry

Overview of the Aerospace Industry – 3 hrs

This module provides a general overview of the different operations – private, commercial, and government – which take place in the industry – commercial, corporate, and private aviation, manufacturing and overhaul, and government, commercial and private space operations.

Aircraft and Their and Uses – 3 hrs

Covers various aircraft types – piston, jet, single-engine, multi-engine, etc; their designs – high-wing, low-wing, canard, etc; and uses – passengers, freight, air ambulance, aerial surveying, power line and pipeline operations, logging, fire-fighting, etc.

Aircraft Construction & Manufacturing – 9 hrs

Details basic construction materials – including metal and composites – as well as various construction methods, and processes of aircraft fabrication and manufacturing.

Commercial Aviation Operations – 3 hrs

This module presents an overview of selected commercial aviation operations – charter and air taxi, freight, payroll, biomedical, etc.

Airline Operations – 9 hrs

Covers numerous factors affecting airline operations – scheduling, routing, business models, aircraft purchase and leasing, etc.  An online simulation of airline operations can be added to provide students with the ability to experiment and experience the effect of these various factors directly.

Spacecraft Construction & Manufacturing – 6 hrs

Similar to Module 3, but covering the fabrication and manufacture of spacecraft – including satellites, space exploration vehicles, launch vehicles and the coming CEV family.

Spacecraft Operation – 6 hrs

Covers both ground- and space-based operations, from launch, to on-orbit, to recovery – including both government and research projects, as well as commercial applications.

Future Developments – 6 hrs

This final modules provides for a discussion of numerous developments on the horizon – such as COTS (commercial orbital transport systems), increasing use of automated flight control, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and future aircraft designs such as the Dreamliner and supersonic transports.