Questions tagged [airfoil]
The 2D shape of a section of aircraft wing.
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What are the effects of endplate on airfoil section?
A 3D wing cannot achieve the same high lift/drag ratio (more than a hundred sometimes) displayed by a 2D profile (airfoil section).
This is due to 3D effects like spanwise flow, wingtip losses(...
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1answer
73 views
Shock wave on airfoil
I was wondering the other day, during the trans sonic regime, when the velocity over the airfoil becomes supersonic,why does the shock wave standing on the airfoil moves downstream when the free ...
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2answers
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What are the scale effects of GA wing tip airfoils?
[ update: I am adopting an improved description provided by Peter Kämpf: "...only looking at the airfoils in isolation..." ]
The goal of this question is to determine if wing tip airfoil scale plays ...
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1answer
69 views
NACA Airfoil 0005.4
I have come across this NACA profile
NACA 0005.4 mod
and it is not clear how to interpret this airfoil. Is this considered a 4 digit NACA profile? What does the number after dot mean?
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1answer
34 views
How could I find the air velocity and lift force?
As shown below I have this information as shown below in the picture. I got the density according to the ISA standard 𝜌 = 1.225[kg/m^3] and 𝐶𝐿 = 𝐶𝐿𝛼 (𝛼−𝛼0) is calculated as below :
α=−4: CL=...
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2answers
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How could I find 𝐶𝐿𝛼 lift coefficient slope?
I'm trying to find 𝐶𝐿𝛼 lift coefficient slope through the below diagram, could anyone explain for me please, how could I find it?
by the way, I depend on this equation 𝐶𝐿 = 𝐶𝐿𝛼 (𝛼−𝛼0)
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1answer
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Foil lift question as foil get thicker/taller
I am working on a project and just need to understand one concept that I cannot find an answer to anywhere and hoping you could answer for me.
The project I'm working on is with airfoils and the main ...
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1answer
666 views
Is drag coefficient lowest at zero angle of attack?
The drag coefficient of a symmetric airfoil is lowest when its angle of attack is zero. I'm not sure if this is true in general.
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4answers
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Does an rc plane tail also have airfoil or is it just flat material? [closed]
I've chosen an airfoil for the wing, now i'm confused weather i should do the same for tail or just attach a flat piece of wood as tail. I'm going for conventional tail design.
This is my first ever ...
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Is there a relationship between 2D airfoil aerodynamic results and a revolution body from that airfoil?
The airfoil would be symmetric and the axis of revolution would be its chord line.
Edit1: To clarify the question, suppose we have a NACA 0010. Then, using for example XFoil, I'm able to get, for ...
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2answers
256 views
What is the difference between static and dynamic stall?
What are the static and dynamic stalls on the aircrafts wing? When would we encounter static and when dynamic one? What is the difference between them?
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How can I tell from the location of flow separation if an airfoil is stalled?
I am in the process of completing a carbon airfoil for my track car (sedan) and I am looking to determine stall angle visually. AKA, wool tufts and highway runs with my GoPro pointed upward from the ...
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1answer
129 views
Why are hexa airfoils used on rockets despite having more drag that diamond airfoils? [closed]
I was doing a study on airfoils shape for a rocket. I tested the diamond and the hexagonal airfoil with Missile DatCom, RasAero and the Shock Expansion theory and from my results it seems like the ...
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0answers
65 views
What's the theoretical background of the critical angle of attack?
The critical angle of attack seems to be at all (most?) airfoils around 15-20°. Why is that? Why is it in this range and not lower or higher? Is it just the result of optimizing airfoils? Or is it ...
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What is the relationship between the Center of Pressure and flap deployment?
I have been reading regarding the Center of Pressure of an airfoil (Cp) and the relationship with angle of attack.
What is a good way to explain in layman's terms why the pressure changes in such a ...
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1answer
121 views
Anyone able to help identify what aerofoil this is?
Firstly, apologies for the potato quality of the image below. I am attempting to determine the qualities of a VTOL and cannot find any data online. If anyone knows what aerofoil this could be that ...
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60 views
What is subcritical and supercritical boundary layer?
What is subcritical and supercritical boundary layer?
What is the difference between them?
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2answers
439 views
What is a rudder or fin stall?
What is a rudder or fin stall, how will the aircraft behave in that situation, and how should the pilot recognise it? What is the recovery procedure? And what is rudder reversal?
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1answer
68 views
What airfoil type is used on the B727-200F?
What airfoil type is used on the Boeing 727-200F? Is it a NACA profile or something else?
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1answer
133 views
What to be considered in designing airplane tail (vertical and horizontal stabilizer, elevators and rudder)? [closed]
I would like to make a small amateur triplane with it maximum weight approximately 400 kgs with maximum speed 100 knots (180 kph). I have read many discussions about how to calculate the wing ...
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0answers
43 views
Where can I find airfoil data for the Beechcraft 1900D tail?
I am creating a CAD model of Beechcraft 1900D from images for a project. So far most info is available in http://www.users.on.net/~grypen/b1900d.html except the airfoil used by the tails. I have ...
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3answers
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Fabric-covered Clark Y Max Coefficient of Lift
I'm looking at the Aeronca C-3 Collegian, which had a Clark Y airfoil, and I'm finding the following:
Wing area: 142 ft²
Empty weight: 466 lbs
Payload: 470 lbs
Stall speed: 38 mph
When I do the math ...
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1answer
106 views
What was the Airfoil of Handley Page P.115?
This extreme sweptback delta was built to test the Concorde wing at low speeds, sources say it had a biconv 6% airfoil, but I failed in finding data about it.
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4answers
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Why isn't there a single best airfoil for subsonic flight?
Why does airfoil used by modern subsonic aircraft (this is true for transonic airliners too) vary from plane to plane?
Haven't we figured out a single best airfoil shape, with the highest lift to ...
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airfoil design mean camber line [duplicate]
The mean camber line is said to be halfway between the upper and lower surfaces of the wing. However, it seems like it’s halfway through the chord line and upper surface. Can someone please clarify ...
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2answers
233 views
Why does a sharp leading edge result in a larger pressure peak?
I know in the real world the sharp leading edge (LE) will results in a larger pressure peak compared to a large radius LE.
And that there are three types of stall.
But I want the explanation in ...
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1answer
96 views
Is high speed buffet possible at supersonic speed?
Since high speed buffet is caused by boundary layer separation due to shock wave and at supersonic flight there is no shock wave directly onto the airfoil (it is attached to the trailing edge), is ...
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0answers
24 views
How is the inflow velocity distributed of a tilted and trimmed rotor in hover?
I'm wondering of how the inflow velocities per blade look during one revolution of a real-life helicopter in hover (no inflow velocity into the rotor plane) with a tilted rotor plane about 20 deg. Is ...
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4answers
447 views
Why does the aerodynamic center exist?
I am a glider pilot and instructor with a master’s degree in actuarial mathematics. I teach aerodynamics every winter for upcoming glider pilots.
As you surely know, the aerodynamic center is the ...
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1answer
141 views
Why does strong shock wave-boundary-layer interaction produce a bubble reattachment?
The picture represents a lambda type shock wave, separating the boundary layer at its foot. Separation causes a recirculation bubble to appear. I understand why separation has happened, but what is ...
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1answer
203 views
Circular arc airfoil wing: why does the wing nose down twist due to camber?
I am reading this paper:
"Computational Investigation of Microscale Shrouded Rotor
Aerodynamics in Hover" Vinod K. Lakshminarayan, James D. Baeder ; JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN HELICOPTER SOCIETY56, ...
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1answer
232 views
the usage of thin airfoils for high-speed flight [closed]
what is The usage of thin aerofoils for high-speed flight
I tried those answers:
They are perfect for controlling the local angle of attack, for instance in turbomachinery and flaps.
At ...
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1answer
129 views
How do I choose the correct airfoil for my fast cargo UAV project?
I am not able to decide which airfoil to choose for my UAV project as I am confused. I need to lift a maximum of 100kg of extra payload excluding the aircraft's fuel and empty weight. Cruise velocity ...
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1answer
110 views
What is the function of a sweep cable?
This is Goat3 ultralight with sweep cables,what is the fuction of these sweep cables?
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1answer
704 views
Which airfoil would be optimum for a glider?
The glider I am designing has a mission requirement to fly for as much time as possible. It will fly in the low Re range of about 150,000 to 250,000.
While comparing different airfoils I am looking ...
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1answer
258 views
What is the purpose of this span wise “false spar” on Affordaplane wings?
This is the wing of an Affordaplane Ultralight,what is the use of those spanwise foam boards between the foam ribs,I know it's not for aesthetics.
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How to transform a NACA airfoil into a near-circle using the inverse Karman-Trefftz?
Is there anyway to find the leading-edge's center of curvature of a NACA Airfoil?
I'm trying to transform a NACA airfoil into a near-circle using the inverse Karman-Trefftz transformation. the ...
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1answer
187 views
What are the rules of airfoil thickness from root to tip on tapered wings?
I'm doing some research on wings and airfoils used in the 30s and 40s, and I'm trying to understand the rules about airfoil proportional thickness changes across the wing (root to tip) on tapered ...
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2answers
353 views
Transonic buffet - reason for a rapid movements of the shockwave along the wing chord line?
I know that transonic aerodynamic buffet is caused by the separated turbulent boundary layer striking the airframe (horizontal stabilizer, wings, fuselage) with considerable force causing a high ...
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3answers
474 views
Why does a turbulent boundary layer cause more friction drag than a laminar boundary layer?
From what I understand, friction is caused by viscosity and a bigger Reynolds number signifies lower viscosity.
Thus, a higher Reynolds number(i.e. turbulent flow) results in lower friction.
But, ...
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1answer
126 views
Airfoils designed for reverse flow [duplicate]
This question might seem strange as almost all aircraft have the air flowing over the wing in only one direction. However if you wanted to design an airfoil would have a good L/D in the forward flow ...
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0answers
66 views
How does pitch moment affect load distribution on a wing?
I am to load test an airplane wing,how does pitch moment(Cm) comes into play or is it insignificant in relation to wing load distribution? St cyr 24 is the airfoil of the wings, at 10° Cm=0.07,how ...
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1answer
158 views
How do wing ribs withstand lateral lift force?
During roll,there is a vertical component of lift that keeps the plane in the air and an horizontal component that actually rolls the plane,how are wing ribs designed to help withstand this vertical(...
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1answer
120 views
How (or where) do I find an airfoil optimized for low reynolds numbers (100,000~150,000)?
Looking to build a RC plane. Because the span is going to be small and the speed relatively low, I estimate the R-number to be around 100,000. Is there an airfoil optimized for that range of Reynold's ...
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1answer
257 views
Why are cambered airfoils used for horizontal stabilizers in some designs?
From what I know, usually NACA9/12 or similar symmetrical airfoils are used for the tail.
Still some aircrafts use highly cambered airfoils for elevators.
What are some advantages and disadvantages ...
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1answer
259 views
What is wing trammelling?
What is wing trammelling and how does it affect wing stability and performance?
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2answers
428 views
What is the purpose of thinner airfoils used near wing tips?
I know that a thicker airfoil at root will strengthen the root spar but what is the reason behind using thinner airfoils at the tip?
Is it because thinner airfoils have higher stalling angles of ...
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2answers
1k views
Why does the stagnation point on airfoil move with the angle of attack?
What is the physical explanation for the reason the stagnation point is where it is? And, why does it move further down the lower side of the airfoil with an increase in angle of attack?
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1answer
138 views
Are there multiple reasons for the decrease in pressure over a wing?
I'm aware that the decrease in pressure over the wing is due to the curvature of the airfoil which causes a pressure loss due to the spreading of the air as it is redirected.
But is it also due to ...
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1answer
247 views
How does the position of the center of pressure change with the use of different high lift devices?
How is the position of the center of pressure affected by different high lift device deployments?
My guesses are:
When I use a high lift device that just increases the chord length, it moves ...
