Engineering Blueprints

[jordan]

I'm looking into a career in aerospace/aeronautical engineering. I've found a lot about the career but the one thing that I haven't found that I want to see are blueprints. Does anyone have an example of blueprints that might be drawn up but the as/an engineers? Or a link to some blueprints? Thanks.

[calbiterol]

You want blueprints for planes? That's going to be extremely hard to come by unless you're willing to fork out some cash (or so I would think, and my previous experiences would tend to agree).

 

Good luck though. I'm looking at aerospace or astronautical myself.

[DV8 2XL]

The days of blueprints in aerospace are long gone. CAD files are the rule now.

 

I started in the industry in the days of drawing offices full of ernst young men in short-sleeve shirts and pocket protectors. To get a modification through was a two-week process. Now as soon as it's approved, a few minutes with a terminal and the changes are instantly all over the system.

 

Money or not most current CAD files are propriorty. I doubt if you will get your hands on them.

[jordan]

Ok, I understand. So let me ask a slightly different question then. You said all plans are done on CAD files. Does that mean that some form of technical computer knowledge is good for aerospace/aeronautical engineering? Or is that not the concern of the engineer himself?

[DV8 2XL]

Get all the CAD knowledge you can. The biggest issue that I found after the people that had a classic Technical Drawing background started retiring, was the drop in the quality of CAD images. Too many engineers were thrown in to the duty of maintaining drawings without a lot of training in CAD and it shows. The cub engineers that are coming up the pipe seem to have been given a better foundation, but the work of the few experienced draftsman left in the business still stands out.

 

Also,- and this is a slice of personal advise that you are free to ignore- don't rush into the design end right away; spend the first part of your career in an airworthiness/flightworthiness position. One it will give you a better nuts-and-bolts view of aviation, and second will give you something to fall back on when you burn out in design.

[lightwave]

Without a CAD knowledge you won't be able to produce a drawing of anything you are required to design or modify. As an engineer you'll be taught CAD and you'll need to acquire a powerful computer knowledge.

 

If you want to move into aircraft maintenance then CAD will be far less important to you.

 

Blueprints! I last saw one of those about 20 years ago.

[DV8 2XL]

Without a CAD knowledge you won't be able to produce a drawing of anything you are required to design or modify. ...

 

If you want to move into aircraft maintenance then CAD will be far less important to you..

 

Which is why I can't seen to get a error free drawing out of my engineering department the first time. It's getting to the point where not being able to work with CAD is like not being able to use a terminal was twenty years ago - some folks turned into pests because they always had to have someone nurse them through when ever they had to use it.

[jordan]

So putting profinciency in CAD on a resumme would be a big bonus I take it.

[DV8 2XL]

Yes, but I think that CAD is also part of a modern BEng program as well.

[cessna7686]

Don't let these guys make you think blueprints don't exist anymore. You defenitely need a strong knowledge of CAD software, but I work in engineering and we use blueprints all the time. Learn a lot of CAD but also make sure you know how to read blueprints.

[gcol]

A blueprint is strictly only a copy. Original drawings were (are?) hand drawn onto starched linen. The blue in blueprint comes from a particular (antiquated?) photocopying process. I have some original large starched linen drawings of late 19th century hand operated and horsedrawn fire engines. They works of art in their own right, with alterations and materials used indicated with coloured ink and pencil.

 

They are presently on loan to the London Fire Brigade Museum for their historical interest and preservation.

[Billwaa]

Forgive me if I am wrong, but I know that my Cousin is being invite (at least i think) to work for Lockheed Martin. He show his skills well during his collage years and invent something with some schoolmate <= I am not sure what though. So I think you just have to stand out from others. I myself have no experience since I am still in High School

[DV8 2XL]

Don't let these guys make you think blueprints don't exist anymore. You definitely need a strong knowledge of CAD software, but I work in engineering and we use blueprints all the time. Learn a lot of CAD but also make sure you know how to read blueprints.

 

That may be in other fields, but blueprints are a thing of the past in aerospace. But I agree that in architecture and civil engineering the large-scale format is still in use.

 

But now it's duplicated by xerography, the old Diazo process is gone forever (but I'll aways associate that smell with the drawing office!)

[cessna7686]

Blueprints aren't a thing of the past in aerospace. I work at Pratt and Whitney and though I'm sure all the parts we make are done in CAD, we still have blue prints for every turbine blade we produce. I'm sure that overall more companies use CAD and only CAD, but I'm just saying it's good to know how to read blueprints.

[insane_alien]

I find Blueprints and CAD very similar except if you rotate them, with CAD you see the otherside of the model but with blueprints you see the other side of the paper(nothing)

[Phi for All]

I find Blueprints and CAD very similar except if you rotate them, with CAD you see the otherside of the model but with blueprints you see the other side of the paper(nothing)

That's because CAD is drawn 1:1 ratio in model space, while what you see on a blueprint is just a snapshot of the model in paper space at a certain scale and perspective and printed in 2D.

 

Many engineers and architects still print CAD files to check them over. Many use the computer for everything. It just depends where you are on the ladder how much exposure you get to blueprints.

 

jordan, as has been stated before, getting files on planes is going to be tough unless they are really old. Design is very much an intellectual property issue, and in certain circumstances a security issue as well.

[DV8 2XL]

cessna7686 I think we are talking at cross-purposes here. I won't say the skill of reading drawings is passé, but the creation and maintenance of drawing are done in CAD. I am very familiar with P&W tech pubs I have several gas turbine manuals on CD-ROM on the rack in front of me as I write. The drawings in there were executed by CAD; that I can send one to a large-format printer and get a "blueprint" is not really the point now is it?

[cessna7686]

I gotcha, you're saying there is no longer a need to be well versed in creating a blueprint by hand, as opposed to using CAD to create one, but would you agree that it's important to know how to read them. I've seen some pretty simple blueprints, but as you know Pratt has some pretty complicated ones as well.

[DV8 2XL]

But of course, but that's a given in our line of work, it's like reading words on a page.

[WaR]

I don't know if someone would like to know how to do plans only with CAD and not know how to do them by hand as well. I am not in the aerospace industry so I wouldn't know, but in the civil engineering department we were thought first by hand and then in CAD. In fact, all our work is based on printed plans (from CAD of course).

 

I suggest you get involved and train by hand as well as with computer software. It just makes you more versatile. Oh, and someone mentioned something about the work of a draftsman standing out from the rest. That may be true, but in reality draftsmen are always paid below an engineer for doing the same work in AutoCAD.

 

</$0.02>

[Phi for All]

Well, I found some CAD files at Boeing but they are just fuselage plans for airport gate planning purposes, not much technical data there. They're also in .dwg format so you'll have to have AutoCAD or VoloView to view them. AutoDesk may have some other free reader since I don't think you can get VoloView for free any more.

I suggest you get involved and train by hand as well as with computer software. It just makes you more versatile.

Absolutely. And versatility is king in today's job market unless you're the best in a specific field.

Oh, and someone mentioned something about the work of a draftsman standing out from the rest. That may be true, but in reality draftsmen are always paid below an engineer for doing the same work in AutoCAD.

That's because draftsmen may lend a certain intuitive quality to a CAD drawing but it takes an engineer or an architect to really design something well in CAD. And they are the ones licensed to stamp the drawing officially.