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Engineering Division

AERONAUTICS

Fighters flyover terrazzo

Supports cadets, the Air Force, and the world through studies in aerodynamics, flight mechanics, propulsion, aircraft structures, and experimental methods.

ABOUT US

Since its inception, the U.S. Air Force Academy has been a major contributor to technological developments and the security of the United States through aerospace studies. More than 60 years later, the Department of Aeronautics continues to support cadets, the Air Force, and the world through a variety of studies in aerodynamics, flight mechanics, propulsion, aircraft structures, and experimental methods. Cadets interested in Aeronautical Engineering have two-course design sequences to choose from—aircraft design or aircraft engine design.

The Aeronautical Engineering and Systems Engineering majors are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.

Aeronautics Faculty and Staff
Final Zoom Flight

Learn more about the artifacts on permanent display at the Department of Aeronautics facility from the final Aerospace Research Pilot School (ARPS) F-104 Zoom flight conducted on Nov. 30, 1973.

Pilot getting into plane F-104 Zoom flight Pilot in front of jet

MAJORS & MINORS

Aeronautical Engineering (Major)
Aeronautical Engineering
(Major)
Systems Engineering – Aeronautics Depth (Co-Administered Major)
Systems Engineering – Aeronautics Depth
(Co-Administered Major)
General Engineering (Divisional Major)*
General Engineering
(Divisional Major)*

*Restrictions Apply

Department News News From Around The Department

January 2, 2025

Cadet 1st Class Luca Valenti selected for Holaday Scholarship

Cadet 1st Class Luca Valenti will pursue two years of graduate studies at Exeter College at Oxford University in Oxford, England, as the recipient of the 2024 Holaday Scholarship. U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet 1st Class Luca Valenti, Class of 2025, has been selected for the Holaday Scholarship, a fully-funded 2-year postgraduate program in the United Kingdom. After graduating from the Academy in 1965, Bart Holaday spent two years as a Rhodes Scholar at Exeter College at Oxford University. He and his late wife, Lynn, created the Holaday...

Continue Reading Cadet 1st Class Luca Valenti selected for Holaday Scholarship

Cadet 1st Class Luca Valenti will pursue two years of graduate studies at Exeter College at Oxford University in Oxford, England, as the recipient of the 2024 Holaday Scholarship.
December 16, 2024

The powered flight journey to become aviators

Cadet 3rd Class Emilie Tedeschi completes her pre-flight check in the T-53 Kadet II on the Davis Airfield flightline at the U.S. Air Force Academy, July 30, 2024. The U.S. Air Force Academy’s Powered Flight Program introduces cadets to motorized aircraft and provides a foundation of flight mechanics and operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley) By Randy Roughton U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – At the U.S. Air Force Academy, cadets develop the skills they will need to become winning warfighters and exceptional aviators. Through the Powered Flight Program, cadets transform into...

Continue Reading The powered flight journey to become aviators

Cadet 3rd Class Emilie Tedeschi completes her pre-flight check in the Cirrus T-53 Kadet II on the Davis Airfield flightline.
August 1, 2024

Class of ’18 grad returns to Academy as aeronautics instructor

Capt. Anna Mason, U.S. Air Force Academy aeronautics instructor, poses for a photo July 24, 2024 at Fairchild Hall, the Academy, Colorado. (U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Pacheco) By Katherine Spessa U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – Capt. Anna Mason, an aeronautical engineer and aeronautics instructor, sits in an office on the top floor of Fairchild Hall, deep in a maze of conference rooms and faculty offices. As with many engineers, she likes to have something to do with her hands – she is spinning a propeller blade with increasing speed as she...

Continue Reading Class of ’18 grad returns to Academy as aeronautics instructor

Capt. Anna Mason, U.S. Air Force Academy aeronautics instructor.
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HQ USAFA/DFAN
2354 Fairchild Drive, Suite 6H-101
United States Air Force Academy, CO 80840
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