Engineering and the Environment

Simon J Newman

MSc, PhD, CEng, FIMA, MRAeS, CMath

Primary position:
Reader in Helicopter Engineering

Background

Simon Newman attended Grammar School in Farnborough near the site of the Royal Aircraft Establishment. He then read mathematics at the University of Southampton, graduating in 1970. Continuing the aircraft theme, he then began a career in helicopter aerodynamics, dynamics and design for the next 41 years. Starting at Westland Helicopters, at Yeovil, Somerset, in 1970 he worked in the Aerodynamics Research Department on rotors systems, performance and aeromechanics. After a year back at Southampton in 1974, where he obtained an MSc in Aeronautics, he returned to Yeovil to work in the Aerodynamics and Dynamics Departments on rotor aerodynamics, blade behaviour and shipborne operations. He was in the Technical Office during the Falklands War, contributing to the technical backup. In 1985 he returned to Southampton as a member of academic staff, reaching the grade of Reader in 2007. His research interests have concentrated on shipborne operations, blade sailing in particular, for which he obtained his doctorate in 1995. Other research has focused on the vortex ring state and the tumble behaviour of microlight aircraft. He has several hobbies, principally photography and golf. Apart from his academic duties he is also an Esquire Bedell of the University, carrying the mace at graduation ceremonies.

Dr Simon J Newman's photo

Publications

The University of Southampton's electronic library (e-prints)

Article

Marshall, D.W., Newman, S.J. and Williams, C.B. (2010) Boundary layer effects on a wing in ground-effect. Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, 82, (2), 99-106. (doi:10.1108/00022661011053391).
Newman, Simon J. (2009) Book review. Road to Mach 10: lessons learned from the X-43A flight research program. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 223, (3), p.307.
Newman, Simon (2009) The intracacies of rotorcraft design. IBScientific Journal of Science, 4, (1), 9-16.
Newman, Simon J. (2009) Book review. From Archangel to Senior Crown: Design & Development of the Blackbird. Peter W. Merlin, Library of Flight Series, 2008, 202 pp., American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc., Reston, VA, USA, £27.50 (paperback), ISBN 978-1-56347-933-5. Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 223, (2), 187-187.
Takeda, K., Newman, S.J., Kenny, J. and Zyskowski, M. (2008) Convergence: commodity flight simulation and the future. Aeronautical Journal, 112, (1136), 599-607.
Perry, F. John, Chan, Wayland Y. F., Simons, Ian A., Brown, Richard E., Ahlin, Gary A., Khelifa, B. Mourad and Newman, Simon J. (2007) Modelling the mean flow through a rotor in axial flight including vortex ring conditions. Journal of the American Helicopter Society, 52, (3), 224-238.
Newman, Simon (2007) Introduction to helicopter and tiltrotor flight simulation. The Aeronautical Journal, 111, (1120), 405-405.
Newman, S. (2006) Happiness is a consistent set of units? Measurement + Control, 39, (4), 114-117.
Hu, G.H. and Newman, S.J. (2006) A full-span free-wake model using circular-arc vortex elements and incorporating rotor trim analysis. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 220, (2), 145-163. (doi:10.1243/09544100G04704).
Newman, Simon (2006) The helicopter – efficiency or efficacy? Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology: An International Journal, 78, (1), 15-19. (doi: 10.1108/17488840610639636).
Gratton, G. and Newman, S. (2006) Towards the tumble resistant microlight. Cockpit, January - June
Newman, S. (2005) Helicopter flight/what can it do and what does it cost? Measurement + Control, 38, (9), 271-275.
Newman, S. (2005) Shipborne aviation: an introduction. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 219, (5), 363-368. (doi:10.1243/095441005X30324).
Coton, F.N., Galbraith, R.A.M., Wang, T. and Newman, S.J. (2004) A wind-tunnel based study of helicopter tail rotor blade vortex interaction. The Aeronautical Journal, 108, (1083), 237-244.
Newman, S. (2004) The safety of shipborne helicopter operation. Measurement & Control, 37, (2), 44-52.
Wallace, M., Azzam, H. and Newman, S. (2004) Indirect approaches to individual aircraft structural monitoring. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 218, (5), 329-346. (doi: 10.1243/0954410042467059).
Gratton, Guy and Newman, Simon (2004) The tumble mode - where test pilots fear to tread. Cockpit, 6-22.
Adams, Mark and Newman, Simon (2004) The tail boom strake. Aircraft engineering and Aerospace Technology, 76, (2), 143-159. (doi:10.1108/00022660410526015).
Orchard, M. and Newman, S. (2003) The fundamental configuration and design of the compound helicopter. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 217, (6), 297-315(19). (doi: 10.1243/095441003772538570).
Newman, Simon, Brown, Richard, Perry, John, Lewis, Steven, Orchard, Matthew and Modha, Ajay (2003) Predicting the onset of wake breakdown for rotors in descending flight. Journal of The American Helicopter Society, 48, 28-38.
Newman, Simon, Whatley, David and Anderson, Ian (2003) Engineering design education - the integration of disciplines. Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, 75, (1), 18-26. (doi:10.1108/00022660310457257).
Gratton, G.B. and Newman, S. (2003) The 'tumble' departure mode in weightshift-controlled microlight aircraft. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 217, (3), 149-166. (doi:10.1243/095441003322297252).
Wakefield, N.H., Newman, S.J. and Wilson, P.A. (2002) Helicopter flight around a ship's superstructure. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 216, (1), 13-28. (doi:10.1243/0954410021533391).
Newman, S. (2001) Book review. Brassey's World Military Technology: Military Rotorcraft, Second Edition. P. Thicknesse, A. Jones, K. Knowles, M. Kellett, A. Mowat and M. Edwards, Brassey's, Chrysalis Books Limited (Batsford), London: 2000, 160pp, £35 (ISBN 1 857 533259). Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, 215, (4), 253-255. (doi:10.1243/0954410011533239).

Book

Newman, Simon J. (2011) Basic Helicopter Aerodynamics, Reston, US, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics, 264pp. (AIAA Education Series).
Seddon, John M. and Newman, Simon. (eds.) (2011) Basic helicopter aerodynamics. [Third edition], Chichester, GB, John Wiley, 286pp. (Aerospace Series).
Newman, Simon (2001) The foundations of helicopter flight, Halsted Press
Seddon, John, Newman, Simon and Seddon, Barbara (2001) Basic helicopter aerodynamics. Second edition, Blackwell, 192pp.

Book Section

Newman, S.J. (2010) Rotary Wing-Flight Mechanics. In, Blockley, Richard and Shyy, Wei (eds.) Encyclopeadia of Aerospace Engnieering. Oxford, GB, John Wiley, 2641-2650.
Newman, S.J. and Takeda, K. (2002) Simulating the helicopter aerodynamic environment. In, Data for Simulation: The Weakest Link. London, UK, The Royal Aeronautical Society, 35. (151).
Wakefield, N.H., Newman, S.J. and Wilson, P.A. (1998) CFD predictions of the influence of external airflow on helicopter operations when operating from ship flight decks. In, RTO Applied Vehicle Technology Panel Symposium: Fluid Dynamics Problems of Vehicles Operating Near or in the Air-Sea Interface. Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, Research and Technology Organization, 1-10. (RTO Meeting Proceedings).

Conference or Workshop Item

Knight, P., Azzam, H., Newman, S.J. and Chipperfield, A.J. (2008) Artificial intelligence and mathematical models for intelligent management of aircraft data. In, 1st International Conference on Prognostics and Health Management, PHM08, Denver, USA, 06 - 09 Oct 2008.
Gratton, Guy and Newman, Simon (2007) Towards the tumble resistant microlight. In, European Symposium of Society of Experimental Test Pilots, Dresden, Germany, 21 - 25 Jun 2006. Lancaster, USA, Society of Experimental Test Pilots19pp.
Jones, Mark P. and Newman, Simon J. (2006) Vibration reduction of a Lynx aircraft via actively controlled trailing edge flaps. In, 32nd European Rotorcraft Forum, ERF 2006, Maastricht, the Netherlands, 12 - 14 Sep 2006. (Submitted).
Newman, Simon (2005) The design of rotary wing aircraft - the combination of disciplines - a University perspective. In, 31st European Rotorcraft Forum (ERF), Florence, Italy, 13 - 15 Sep 2005. (Submitted).
Newman, S., Brown, R., Perry, J., Khelifa, M., Modha, A. and Arlin, G. (2004) Revisiting the effects of blade geometry on rotor behaviour in descending flight. In, 30th European Rotorcraft Forum, Marseilles, Sep 2004.
Takeda, Kenji and Newman, Simon (2004) Convergence: the future of flight simulation. At Flight Simulation 1929-2029: A Centennial Perspective, London, UK, 26 - 27 May 2004.
Takeda, Kenji and Newman, Simon J. (2003) Flying high at university: flight simulation in the lecture theatre. In, Royal Aeronautical Society - Ballantyne Lecture 2003: Flight Simulation - Just a Game?, London, UK, Feb 2003. (Submitted).
Newman, S.J. and Takeda, K. (2003) Low cost flight simulation for light aircraft development. In, Royal Aeronautical Society, Light Aviation Group Conference: Current & Future Developments in Light Aviation 2003.
Takeda, K. and Newman, S.J. (2003) Flying high at university: flight simulation in the lecture theatre. In, ASEE 2003 Annual International Conference and Exposition in Engineering Education, Nashville, USA, 22 - 25 Jun 2003.
Brown, R.E., Newman, S.J., Perry, F.J. and Leishman, J.G. (2003) Blade twist effects on rotor behaviour in the vortex ring state. In, 59th Annual Forum, American Helicopter Society, Phoenix, Arizona, 2003. 14pp.
Modha, A.N. and Newman, S.J. (2002) Towards better stability and control properties of the conventional helicopter using main rotor couplings. In, 28th European Rotorcraft Forum, Bristol, UK, 17 - 20 Sep 2002. , 1-10.
Coton, F., Galbraith, R.A.McD., Newman, S.J. and Wang, T. (2002) Preliminary results from a wind tunnel based study of tail rotor blade vortex interaction. In, 28th European Rotorcraft Forum, Bristol, UK, 17 - 20 Sep 2002. , 1-10.
Brown, R.E., Newman, S.J., Perry, F.J. and Leishman, J.G. (2002) Blade twist effects on rotor behaviour in the vortex ring state. In, 28th European Rotorcraft Forum, Bristol, UK, 17 - 20 Sep 2002. 14pp.
Khelifa, B.M., Carlin, H., Carter, J., Silanovski, A., Thomas, G. and Newman, S.J. (2002) Pilot workload assessment using flight simulation. In, 28th European Rotorcraft Forum, Bristol, UK, 17 - 20 Sep 2002. , 1-15.
Newman, S.J. (2001) Safety implications of helicopter blade sailing. In, Institute of Measurement & Control Symposium, Controlling Aviation Safety, Winchester, UK, 21 - 22 Nov 2001. (Submitted).
Newman, S.J. (2001) The helicopter: how it flies. In, Ballantyne Symposium, Royal Aeronautical Society, London, UK, Jan 2001. (Submitted).
Newman, Simon, Brown, Richard, Perry, John, Lewis, Steven, Orchard, Matthew and Modha, Ajay (2001) Comparative numerical and experimental investigations of the vortex ring phenomenon in rotorcraft. In, American Helicopter Society, 57TH Annual Forum, Washington DC, USA, 09 - 11 May 2001. USA, American Helicopter Society International21pp.
Wakefield, N.H., Newman, S.J. and Wilson, P.A. (1998) CFD predictions of the influence of external airflow on helicopter operations when operating from ship flight decks. In, International Powered Lift Conference, London, UK, 02 - 04 Sep 1998. London, UK, Royal Aero Society10pp.

Monograph

Newman, S.J. (2011) Coleman transformation for N rotor blades. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 22pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/20).
Newman, S.J. (2011) The rotor in axial flight. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 25pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/02).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Modelling a fuselage profile in MATLAB. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 17pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/06).
Newman, S.J. (2011) The compression behaviour of an Oleo. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 17pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/24).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Unsteady aerodynamic lift variation of an aerofoil using Kussner's function (example - the passage of a transverse vortex). Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 13pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/09).
Newman, S.J. (2011) An analysis of sweep angle contours. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 12pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/05).
Newman, S.J. (2011) A quasi-two dimensional model to determine the flow over a helicopter fuselage in a side wind in and out of ground effect. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 21pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/18).
Newman, S.J. (2011) The vortex ring filament in ground effect. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 9pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/04).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Incidence variation of a tumbling wing. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 8pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/16).
Newman, S.J. (2011) The induced velocity of a vortex ring filament. Southampton, City of, GB, University of Southampton, 11pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/03).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Modelling ground effect (Cheeseman, Bennett & Leishman). Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 5pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/17).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Ground resonance modelling using Appell's equations. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 44pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/21).
Newman, S.J. (2011) The simulation of aircraft motion by using MATLAB. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 63pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/27).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Methods of calculating helicopter power, fuel consumption and mission performance. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 53pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/07).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Unsteady aerodynamics with exponential lift decrement. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 15pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/08).
Newman, S.J. (2011) The response of a vibration absorber or isolator. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 8pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/23).
Newman, S.J. (2011) 2D Potential flow modelling in MATLAB. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 15pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/14).
Newman, S.J. (2011) The modes of vibration of a mass spring system. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 14pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/22).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Simulated flight of a microlight aircraft using zero order hold integration. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 17pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/11).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Ground track of a satellite in a circular orbit around the earth. , University of Southampton, 11pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/29).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Behaviour of a jump start autogyro 2D. , University of Southampton, 9pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/15).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Power failure near to the ground in near hovering flight. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 13pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/10).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Projectile with drag. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 10pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/25).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Rotor control power in roll with zero thrust near hovering flight. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 6pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/28).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Power failure near to the ground in near hovering flight (multi-engined). Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 16pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/12).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Fitting an inclined ellipse into a rectangular box. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 8pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/26).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Joukowski aerofoil modelling in MATLAB. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 17pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/13).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Blade vortex intersection - a geometrical examination. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 41pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/01).
Newman, S.J. (2011) Derivation of a simple ground resonance model. Southampton, GB, University of Southampton, 23pp. (School of Engineering Sciences AFM Technical Reports, 11/19).
 

Research

Research Interests

  • VSTOL aircraft design & operation
  • helicopter operation in adverse operational environments
  • microlight aircraft aeromechanics
  • shipborne aviation
  • use of CAD in aerospace design

Primary research group:  Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics

Teaching Responsibilities

Module titleModule codeDisciplineRole
Introduction to Aircraft Aeroelasticity SESA6050 Aerospace Engineering Course leader
Aerospace Design I SESA3002 Aerospace Engineering Tutor
Design SESM1005 Mechanical Engineering Tutor

Contact

Dr Simon J Newman
Engineering and the Environment
University of Southampton
Highfield
Southampton
SO17 1BJ

Room Number: 13/5011