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Why do thicker airfoils have better stall characteristics? They make more lift, but I don’t see any reason for them to have better stall characteristics. Also, I heard a rounded airfoil nose will help with this, why is that?

Edit : better stall characteristics meaning that it has a progressive loss of lift and doesn’t loose lift all of the sudden. Also the pitching moment changes smoother.

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    $\begingroup$ @sophit Also do you know why this question is getting downvoted? I don’t see a problem with it. $\endgroup$
    – Wyatt
    Commented Mar 6 at 14:44
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    $\begingroup$ No idea why the downvote, it would be nice to get first a suggestion and then possibly a downvote 🤷‍♂️ In my opinion is a legitimate and interesting aerodynamics question $\endgroup$
    – sophit
    Commented Mar 6 at 15:08
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    $\begingroup$ @sophit exactly, I wish people would comment when they downvote. I feel like not commenting almost defeats the purpose of downvoting, as you don’t know what to improve. $\endgroup$
    – Wyatt
    Commented Mar 6 at 16:18
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    $\begingroup$ "I don't see any reason for them to have better stall characteristics" Time to do some reading about (subsonic) airflow around a sharp and rounded leading edge surface. Start with a flat plate and see what one would do with the shape of the leading edge to keep airflow attached as AoA increases. $\endgroup$
    – Robert DiGiovanni
    Commented Mar 7 at 0:00
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    $\begingroup$ @RobertDiGiovanni That makes sense, thanks. That almost seems like it could be its own answer! $\endgroup$
    – Wyatt
    Commented Mar 7 at 4:44

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For airfoils used in GA, "thicker" and "rounder nose" are identical. The thicker it is, the larger the radius of curvature at the nose must be.

A rounder LE will

increase the range of angles of attack at which the boundary layer stays attached, and allow for a more gradual transition between normal flow and stall

by reducing the pressure gradient that tries to detach the boundary layer from the airfoil.

-- https://aviation.stackexchange.com/a/58452/31425

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