Reviews

“...covers in outstanding – make that brilliant – fashion the following key areas: Aerodynamics and Air Loads, Structural Stress Analysis, Human Factors, Sample Design, and Flight Testing.”

Review by Dr. Sam Baty, Adjunct Professor Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Chris Heintz has long been a leader in explaining aerodynamics and flight. In his new book, “FLYING ON YOUR OWN WINGS: A Complete Guide to Understanding Light Aircraft Design,” he continues his legacy of providing outstanding material for those interested in pursuing this fascinating topic. Chris covers in sufficient detail all of those areas necessary to design and successfully build a light airplane. In the seven chapters in his book, Chris blends the proper amount of mathematics with the practical aspects of airplane design. He covers all of the crucial areas in outstanding and – perhaps more importantly – sufficient but not excessive detail. In Chapter I, for example, Chris reviews the mathematics that are necessary to undertake the construction of a light aircraft. He provides enough background so that the reader can understand important concepts such as center of gravity, moment of inertia, and section modulas. He also uses graphing extensively so that the reader can comprehend how geometry, trigonometry, and vector mathematics are employed in aircraft design. In Chapter II, Chris reviews the all-important area of units. History is full of examples where designers have failed to realize that the “left hand” doesn’t know what the “right” is doing. A recent example is that one group was working in English units and the other in the metric system. The result was catastrophic failure. To try and preclude this occurrence, Chris has included a detailed and important discussion of conversion factors from various systems of measure. Chapters III through VII are devoted to those areas that will allow the reader to understand what it takes to construct a flyable prototype. He covers in outstanding – make that brilliant – fashion the following key areas: Aerodynamics and Air Loads, Structural Stress Analysis, Human Factors, Sample Design, and Flight Testing. By digesting this material, the reader will have everything at his/her disposal to build an airplane that will fly to reasonable and designated locations. It is impossible to say too many good things about this book. It is outstanding in every way. Hopefully, Chris will continue to write and delve into areas of interest to advanced aerodynamicists.

Richard S. “Sam” Baty, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. In addition to teaching technical graduate courses for Embry-Riddle, Sam has written a World War II historical thriller. You can read about it at www.sambatybooks.com

“...without a doubt the most complete compilation of information needed by a home designer/builder of small airplanes.”

Review by Charles Bodeen, posted on Amazon.com. Chuck’s background is as an aerospace engineer and computer programmer. His love for flying started when his Dad was an inspector for United Airlines. He taught Astronautics at the Air Force Academy for three years. Twelve years ago he took up flight simulation as a hobby and has now published more than 70 magazine articles on the subject.

Flying on You Own Wings is without a doubt the most complete compilation of information needed by a home designer/builder of small airplanes. After an introduction in which one really gets to know the author, Chris Heintz, the book is divided into chapters which assume virtually no prior knowledge on the part of the reader. The sections on mathematics and units go from the principles of basic arithmetic to the use of conversion factors for all of the useful systems of measure. Aerodynamics and structural analysis are treated in a manor which makes the necessary concepts clear and understandable. A discussion of human factors, a sample design, and a plan for flight testing wrap up the book. The book enables a reader at almost any level to jump in and find the information needed to begin or continue with a design project as well as to gain an understanding of why planes fly as they do. The book is well organized and the table of contents for each chapter is so well presented that the lacking index is hardly missed.

"..a unique approach of really practical methods that he has obviously used himself"

Review by Dr. Marty A. Ferman, Professor Emeritus, Parks College, Saint Louis University

The book, “Flying on your own wings” by Chris Heinz is a unique book reflecting Chris’ personality: i.e., it is straightforward, well explained, and an honest hands-on application of design principles. Chris has a massive amount of experience and his own hands-on awareness of the how-to-do aspect of design and building of light aircraft. He gives the reader a unique approach of really practical methods that he has obviously used himself. He has a touch of the common man’s feelings, not abstract verbiage found in so many books written simply for the author’s ego. Rather, Chris has done a yeoman’s job of being down-to- earth for the person who has no time to waste, instead they want to churn up the air,so to speak, as they plow into aircraft design and building. This book will give the reader an A-Z of how to design and build the airplane that an individual wants for himself. GOOD JOB, CHRIS!!!

(I believe I am uniquely qualified to comment on Chris’ Book. When I retired in 2008, I had 56 years of full time Engineering experience. I worked some 40 years in Industry and some 16 in Academia. I worked some 5 years in Industry while attending Purdue, three + years full time with US Steel alone. After Graduating Purdue, I have worked 35 Years at McDonnell Douglas, in Aircraft, Missiles, Spacecraft, and Windmills. That work was divided into equal thirds between R&D, Projects, and Advanced Design. I was fortunate enough to have worked the F-4, F-15, F-18, T-45, Harrier AV-A and AV-8B, DC-9, DC-10, MD 80, C-117, HARV, and a variety of other Aircraft as a MDC/Gov Consultant. I also worked several Missiles projects, Gam-72, Model 122B rocket, and Talos. I had some 11 R &D Contracts, bringing MDC some 30 Million in income. My work at MDC was both Analytical and Experimental, including much manufacturing efforts. I worked 16 years at Parks College in Aerospace Engineering. I taught a wide range of undergraduate and graduate classes, and I published some 80 papers and reports at Parks bringing my total to 130 with those from the MDC period.)

“..a textbook for the serious aeronautics student and enthusiast... the book takes a 'student' through an Aeronautical Engineering graduate course, from math to stress analysis to materials to design and test flight.”

Review by Jim Cavanagh. Jim is a freelance writer with extensive experience as a writer, pilot and builder. His articles have appeared in numerous aviation publications, including Kitplanes, EAA Sport Aviation, Aviation Consumer, and more.

We are all avid aviators. Most of us are avid readers. When we can read a book about anything that flies we are in hog heaven. When we read a book that tries to teach us how to design and build an airplane, we sweep things out of the way and take the phone off of the hook. This is pretty much what you will do when you get a copy of Chris Heintz’ Flying On Your Own Wings.

Chris Heintz has been designing airplanes for over forty years. He is an icon at the Experimental Aircraft Association Annual Convention, and his airplanes are legendary for efficiency (max performance on minimal weight and power). Long an advocate of safety, his philosophy is moderate speeds and short landings, knowing that the higher the performance of an aircraft, the higher the mortality rate of their pilots, and that when something does occur in flight to precipitate an Emergency Landing, the slower the approach and the shorter the landing distance, the better.

Retiring at age 67, with his four sons deeply involved in the kit and plane building business, he had time to collect his thoughts and notes on designing an airplane and writing it in terms that everyone, with a little effort, can understand. Oh, that I had had his explanations of math when in college!

Flying OnYour Own Wings is as much an autobiography as it is a book on aircraft design. Beginning with a bit of history, Chris tells the tale of a young man born in France to Academic parents and his rise through the school systems where he was attracted to the aviation department of ETH, a University in Zurich, because they had a Piper Cub. He actually worked his way through college as a street Magician. He married Ann Marie, eventually had four sons and a daughter, and went out into the world.

Professionally, he put in time at Jodel, then Avions Robin, before going to work as a flutter analyst at Aerospatiale, working on the Concorde. Moving to Ontario, Canada, he worked for deHavilland before entering the Experimental aircraft business and starting Zenair in 1974.

These were the golden years of the Homebuilt Movement. Paul Poberezny’s EAA was growing exponentially, and designers like Molt Taylor, Frank Smith, John Cassutt and Curtis Pitts were designing small single-seat homebuilt aircraft that were intended solely for recreation and could be built in basements and garages. The Zenith CH200 was an all aluminum two seat homebuilt that skipped aerobatics and pure speed for safe, more comfortable and sedate cruising for taking longer trips. Touring was a big thing in Europe, where a country was as far away as a state for us Americans.

Chris designed a couple of other aircraft, like the CH 50 Mini Z, the CH 100 Mono-Z, CH 150 Acro Z and the CH 180-Super Z, and the three-seat CH-300, but his star began to rise when he introduced the CH-600 Zodiac in 1984. The Zodiac was the culmination of all previous designs. He felt that it was the design that had legs and would be popular well into the future. Around 1986, he introduced the iconic CH-701, one of the most unique looking and performing aircraft ever built. A true STOL aircraft, this was and still is the perennial favorite of the builder/pilot who seeks off road, off airport adventure.
His latest designs include the LSA CH 650 and CH 750 designs, and the massive CH-801 that is the ultimate adventure aircraft.
With this body of work behind him, it is no wonder that Chris is continually asked for advice from builders and designers and to give seminars and forums on his aircraft. To this end, he created Flying On Your Own Wings, basically a textbook for the serious aeronautics student and enthusiast.

Filled with sketches and graphs drawn with his own hand, the book takes a “student” through an Aeronautical Engineering graduate course, from math to stress analysis to materials to design and test flight. Even with a lengthy introduction to the math with a very comprehensive glossary, some of the math is a bit difficult to master, however his explanations and sketches create a two dimensional representation of the verbiage. Scattered throughout the book are quotes and anecdotes that support or emphasize his goal of teaching one to design with Beauty! Truth! And Goodness!

Even if you don’t want to design your own airplane, anyone who wonders about how they work, how a wing flies, what it takes to carry that weight and control it in the air, Chris’s drawings clarify aeronautics like “Fun With Dick and Jane” teaches reading. I can see builders going to this book to tweak their own airplane, adding Vortex Generators or cleaning up airflow or beefing up certain areas. Some “designers” have actually gone to the trouble of “borrowing” much of Chris’ ideas for their own designs.

As you go through the book you notice that much of his math is metric, and that he makes funny “x’s”, like two “c’s” back to back. Must be a European thing. It is also a bit disappointing that the photo quality is dark and fuzzy. Like his drawings, this makes the book look homespun, but the airplanes and their features aren’t crisp and pretty, like they deserve to be.

If anything is lacking in the book it is that there are not enough photos. I would like to see all of the designs, not just the popular commercial successes. At over three hundred pages, however, the book certainly provides enough for Chris to make his point.

With nearly 4,000 of his airplanes flying, Chris Heintz has an almost religious following. Satisfied with his life’s work and enjoying success and popularity, one might think Chris would simply retire gracefully and enjoy life. But that designer and tinker-er in him, the one that built a canoe when he was just a kid and put the stabilizer airfoil upside down will probably not find the best rocking chair ever made and just watch life go by. Hec, he would probably design and build his own rocking chair…and then write a book about it!

“You need this book.”

Review by Jim B. Belcher, BS, MS Physics, A&P/IA, Instrument Rated Pilot, Retired Aerospace Technical Manager, Semi-proficient Househusband, and CH 601 builder.

Chris Heintz' book, Flying on You Own Wings, is subtitled: “A Complete Guide to Understanding Light Airplane Design.” The subtitle is a very accurate description of the book's contents. I'm going to first tell you my basis for review, and what I believe is good about the book. I'll then tell you what I believe could be improved. I won't hide my conclusion from you, or make you wait until the end of the review. Your wife has been hiding money in the sugar bowl so she can buy a second dress. Wait until she is fast asleep, sneak out $39.95, and buy the book. Who needs a second dress? You need this book. His first chapter, Mathematics, is a review of freshman and perhaps sophomore level college math, and physical symbology. Those already possessing this information could easily skip over this chapter and the following chapter. However, I feel it and the second chapter on units would help introduce many to these subjects, and provide a generally good basic grounding. In fact, I intend to buy a copy of this book, and provide it to our son, who is a first year engineering student, trying to come to grips with where all this math came from, and what it really means. Mr. Heintz hits his stride in the third chapter on aerodynamics and air loads, followed by chapters on structural stress analysis, and human factors. Although his approach provides reasonably rigorous mathematical backup, it is common sense, and has real world examples. He concludes with chapters on a sample design, and flight testing. I can't absorb all this book at a single reading period. It's going to take days or weeks to think some of this through. I am confident that this book will provide me with background missing in many areas. It's certain I will have a much better understanding of aircraft design when I finish. You should be aware that the reviewer holds degrees in physics, with minors in math and computer science. What I consider common knowledge may not be common to everyone, and you should adjust the opinions I express accordingly. Conversely, some of you may have much more knowledge than I, and find the book too basic. Now for the down side of things. First, it's clear the author's primary language is not English. This results in occasional odd turns of phrase which may hinder the readability of the book. Engineers are not known for being the best communicators, and don't always break things up into short, manageable segments. This book is no exception: it appears to badly need a technical editor. It's far, far, too pedantic. But so are a lot of technical books. The lot of the author of a book on a technical subject is a challenging one. If the book is too technical, it becomes turgid, and difficult to read, even for those knowledgable in the field. If the author writes on too broad a level, some of the technical content is lost. It's even worse when math is involved. Mathematicians are less concerned about the real world value of their work than its theoretical value. Those of us in the real world must pick our way very carefully through a mine field, selecting those areas of math which have physical meaning, and those which do not. Unfortunately, it's too easy to dismiss something of value in another discipline, which is meaningless in our own. That's an error Mr. Heintz has made. An example of this is on page 32, where imaginary numbers are dismissed. Students of engineering and science need to be aware that these numbers have real physical meaning in some fields. There really are things that work this way. Where there is one error of this type, there are likely to be others. Study this book carefully, and focus on the aircraft design portions. I agree with his premise that the metric system is easier to use in most engineering calculations. But I wonder why, in a book whose largest audience is likely to be in the United States, this system was used. Maybe I underestimate the ability of aircraft builders, but those I know don't use the metric system, and most rather frown on its usage. Perhaps one purpose of the book is to educate on the use of the metric system, or to promote it. I think it might have been more accurate to introduce the subject by saying that calculations are more readily done in the metric system. For this reason, the book is written around that system, to make the calculations easier to understand. I do most of my own calculations in the metric system, but convert the results to a more familiar form, because most materials available to me only come in feet, pounds, and inches. Some of the philosophy strikes the mark very well. For example, an aircraft should not only perform well, it should be handsome in appearance. But some of the philosophy is very cryptic, and I have no idea what its intent may have been. Unfortunately, some of the philosophy borders on metaphysics, and would put Shirley McClaine to shame. On page 51, there is speculation that the number of calendar years in a sidereal year are the approximately the same as the number of breaths a human takes in in one day. This is hardly a causual relationship, and included in a book on light aircraft design, throws the technical credibility into question. If I breathe more slowly, does the universe slow down? More of this appears on page 53, where Mr. Heintz observes “Note: Although the gravitational pull of planets does not affect aircraft design, its action on the life forces (plants, animals, humans) and soul forces (animals and humans) is not much recognized in our western culture. Some cultures are more attuned to this....” First, if it has nothing to do with aircraft design, why is it here? Second, it's possible to find a lot of cultures with some pretty strange ideas, but that doesn't make them correct. The book needs to be more focused. Do not take this criticism as damming the book with faint praise. It's a good book, and, if you want to understand aircraft design, well worth studying. In fairness, the answer to many of these issues is that children should not read books written for adults. When you read Mr. Heintz' book, you should simply be mature enough to recognize his rather unique outlook. Absorb the parts about aircraft design, and filter out some of the rest. This is a good book, and worth studying (reading is too light a word). My regret is that what is now a good book could have been an excellent book with the services of a good technical editor.

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