Joby · Beta · World View · Raven Aerostar · 16 weeks
The 16-week path to aerospace systems roles at the eVTOL, stratospheric, and small-UAS companies. Aerodynamics + propulsion + avionics + the systems-integration discipline that holds it all together.
How vehicles fly + how they push themselves through air.
Lift, drag, stall, Mach effects. Anderson's book is the standard.
You will read aero reports. You should be able to interpret a polar plot.
eVTOL is changing what aerospace propulsion looks like. Know the trade space.
Joby and Beta use electric. Raven Aerostar is balloon-driven. World View uses lift gas. Different propulsion stories per niche.
Why aircraft fly stably or don't. The mechanical-engineering-flavored part.
Etkin & Reid is the standard text. Heavy but the only book you'll need.
The flight-computer side. Companion roadmap is Autonomy/GNC.
Flight controllers, IMU, GPS, transponders, comms.
How modern eVTOL + small UAS avionics buses (CAN, ARINC 429, Ethernet) are organized.
See the dedicated Autonomy/GNC roadmap. Here you need vocabulary fluency only.
Junior aerospace engineers can defer deep GNC; senior ones need it. Plan accordingly.
The discipline of integrating components into systems that fly safely.
The body of knowledge for the discipline.
Required reference. Most aerospace companies expect knowledge of these patterns.
How systems engineering organizes work from concept through verification.
You will live in a requirements management tool (DOORS, Polarion). Get used to the format.
FAA Parts 21/23/27 + DO-178C. The paperwork that gates aerospace careers.
Type certification for fixed-wing, eVTOL, rotorcraft.
Joby, Beta, and Archer are all in active certification. Knowing the paths is interview-relevant.
The software cert standard for civil aviation.
If you write code that flies on a certified aircraft, this gates everything you do.
The niche for Raven Aerostar, World View, and high-altitude UAS.
Class A and above airspace has its own rules. Worth a week if your target is stratospheric.