Aero Design Series – Airfoils – Part 4: Physical Interpretation of Coefficient of Moment

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In this 4th video in a series of 4 about airfoils, we search for a physical understanding and interpretation of the coefficient of moment “Cm” of airfoils. This parameter is often confusing to grasp at first, but a physical understanding of it helps us to select airfoils, planform layouts and incidence angles for the wings and stabilizers&control surfaces of our aircraft that we’re designing in SOLIDWORKS to assure that it can fly in a stable manner.

Look out for the next series on stability! We’ll apply what we learned about airfoils to get a physical understanding of stability of the aircraft as a whole.

Matthew Gruber

Matthew Gruber is an alumni of Concordia University's Aero Design and Design/Build/Fly teams in 2015 through 2017, having joined after gaining an interest in helicopters and airplanes from living in Alaska. Now is in his 3rd year in the airframe stress group of the 525 helicopter program at Bell and with 1 year of internships at Bombardier behind him, he credits the hands-on learning and team project experiences in SAE and D/B/F as the most formative in his path towards aerospace engineering. Being able to create in programs like SolidWorks and then to build into realization is one of the most rewarding aspects of engineering. In his spare time, Matt likes backcountry snowboarding with his family dogs, bicycling for commuting, mountain trails and touring, looking for music and hanging out with friends and family. For fun, for practice, and for a connection with the education and University communities and you the students, Matt is stoked to bring you these aero design video series.