Aircraft Systems Engineering
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this graduate-level course from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics on treating an airplane as an integrated system rather than a collection of parts. Lectures and materials cover systems engineering fundamentals, cost and weight estimation, basic aircraft performance, safety and reliability analysis, lifecycle considerations, aircraft subsystems, and risk analysis and management. The core project has small student teams retrospectively analyze an existing aircraft, examining the key design drivers, tradeoffs, subsystem choices, and operational experience behind it, then present findings in both an oral presentation and a written case study. The course includes lecture notes, assignments, and project materials free to access, with no certificate offered through OCW. It suits students who want to see how real aircraft programs balance performance, cost, and safety requirements across a full design lifecycle.