Aerospace

Engineering Consulting

Gundlach Aerospace LLC

  • Product definition
  • Proposal capture strategy
  • Technology roadmaps

Strategy

  • Fuel efficient aircraft
  • Advanced designs​

Aircraft Design

Driven by my lifelong passion for aircraft design, I founded Gundlach Aerospace LLC in 2013 to provide clients with exceptional consulting services in aircraft conceptual design, Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) product development, UAS market analysis, and systems analysis.  UAS are also referred to as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), or simply drones. While working with numerous UAS prime contractors, suppliers, universities and government program offices over the course of my career, I have helped develop over 35 unique UAS that achieved at least first flight, including inventing and leading the development of the Insitu Integrator (now the RQ-21A Blackjack) and leading the Aurora Flight Sciences Orion Ultra-Long Endurance UAS.  I regularly develop new UAS systems and invent enabling technologies, which has led to five patents.  As a foremost UAS expert, I have written three authoritative books published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), including the most comprehensive UAS textbook, a study of Naval Research Laboratory UAS development, and a forthcoming book (May 2016) dedicated exclusively to the emerging field of civilian UAS with a broad overview of civil and commercial UAS missions. 


Leveraging over two decades of experience designing and developing UAS for government and industry, I welcome inquires on how Gundlach Aerospace can support your team.  


Dr. Gundlach’s selected publications:

  • (In work) Book: Civil and Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Missions and Systems, AIAA, projected publication in 2015.
  • (In work) Co-author with Richard Foch, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Innovation at the Naval Research Laboratory, AIAA Library of Flight, 480 pages, 2014.
  •  Textbook: Designing Unmanned Aircraft Systems: A Comprehensive Approach, AIAA Education Series, 805 pages, 2011.
  • Co-Author, AVIATR – Air Vehicle for In-Situ and Airborne Titan Reconnaissance, A Titan Airplane Mission Concept, Experimental Astronomy, DOI 10.1007/s10686-011-9275-9, 2011.
  • 1st Author, Revolutionary Configurations for Energy Efficiency (RCEE) Final Report, Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL-RB-WP-TR-2010-3089, 2010.
  • Ph.D. Dissertation: Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of Subsonic Fixed-Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Projected Through 2025, Virginia tech, 2004.
  • Co-Author, Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Transonic Commercial Transport with Strut-Braced Wing, AIAA Journal of Aircraft, November-December 2001.
  • 1st Author, Conceptual Design Studies of a Strut-Braced Wing Transonic Transport, AIAA Journal of Aircraft, November-December 2000.
  • MS Thesis: Multidisciplinary Design Optimization and Industry Review of a 2010 Strut-Braced Wing Transonic Transport, Virginia Tech, 1999.
  • Author, Development of the Virginia Tech Forestry Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, AIAA-99-0003, 1999.

Leadership

Dr. Gundlach, Founder and President

 

  • Subject Matter Expert
  • Author
  • Designer
  • Technologist

Unmanned Aircraft