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Finding Airfoil Data For Amateur Projects?

Posted by Cliff on from the digging-for-the-data dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "I am an aerospace engineering student who is engaged in an amateur project. A major hurdle I am having is finding modern airfoil data which can be used for a non-profit project. As most aerospace engineers know, just about all modern airfoil data are guarded industry secrets, so building an amateur project that requires precise airfoil data is difficult, because of the lack of available modern information. There is plenty of dated airfoil data from the 1960s or earlier, but my project requires access to modern data. Note that I do not have access to a wind tunnel to procure this data on my own. Where would one find free modern airfoil data for use in an amateur project?"

4 of 71 comments (clear)

  1. XFoil by slacy · · Score: 5, Informative

    There's a great GPL'd program out there called XFoil that contains a large database of standard airfoils, including several "flat bottomed" foils, that are easy to construct from balsa.

    I've used these before in some simple hobby projects (that never actually got finished)

  2. Coordinate Data and other stuff. by Skyfire · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a pretty good site with coordinate data. I used it for a Catia model once. If you want data on the performance of the airfoil as well, such as polar curves, here is another site. Anyways, one thing to take note of is that not all modern airplanes use modern airfoils. For example, the Gulfstream GIV uses a modified NACA airfoil.

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  3. Sailplanes by littlerubberfeet · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sailplanes are a good place to start. Get a copy of "Fundamentals of Sailplane Design" by Fred Thomas, printed by the college park press in MD. ISBN: 0966955307. It has a bunch of equations you are probably sick of (Stokes anyone?) and wing profiles and data for some gliders, including the Eta Uberglider.

    If L/D is all you need, it should be easy, though there are some other numbers in the book that are probably useful. Good luck! Also, it never hurts to ask...Have you tried the military? Sometimes they give up random tidbits of data without a FOIA request.

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  4. Classic is the best by Murrow · · Score: 5, Informative

    The book that I always pull off my shelf is the classic "Theory of Wing Sections" by Abbott and von Doenhoff (ISBN: 0486605868). It's a compilation of NACA data (NACA is NASA's predicessor) and the most comprehensive reference on the subject that I know of. Amazon has a new copy for $14.

    I'm not sure why modern data would be a must for any non trans/supersonic vehicle (and some supersonic aircraft still use the classic NACA 4-digit airfoils).