Book excerpt: Find the right answer the first time with this useful handbook of preliminary aircraft design. Written by an engineer with close to 20 years of design experience, General Aviation Aircraft Design: Applied Methods and Procedures provides the practicing engineer with a versatile handbook that serves as the first source for finding answers to realistic aircraft design questions. The book is structured in an "equation/derivation/solved example" format for easy access to content. Readers will find it a valuable guide to topics such as sizing of horizontal and vertical tails to minimize drag, sizing of lifting surfaces to ensure proper dynamic stability, numerical performance methods, and common faults and fixes in aircraft design. In most cases, numerical examples involve actual aircraft specs. Concepts are visually depicted by a number of useful black-and-white figures, photos, and graphs (with full-color images included in the eBook only). Broad and deep in coverage, it is intended for practicing engineers, aerospace engineering students, mathematically astute amateur aircraft designers, and anyone interested in aircraft design. Organized by articles and structured in an "equation/derivation/solved example" format for easy access to the content you need Numerical examples involve actual aircraft specs Contains high-interest topics not found in other texts, including sizing of horizontal and vertical tails to minimize drag, sizing of lifting surfaces to ensure proper dynamic stability, numerical performance methods, and common faults and fixes in aircraft design Provides a unique safety-oriented design checklist based on industry experience Discusses advantages and disadvantages of using computational tools during the design process Features detailed summaries of design options detailing the pros and cons of each aerodynamic solution Includes three case studies showing applications to business jets, general aviation aircraft, and UAVs Numerous high-quality graphics clearly illustrate the book's concepts (note: images are full-color in eBook only)