PDA

View Full Version : Airfoil data


Mike Switzer
07-14-2012, 09:07 AM
I thought there used to be a page on NASA's website where you could get all the airfoil test data to plot lift/drag curves, etc for various airfoils, but I can't seem to find it.

Does anyone know where to look? The University of Illinois has a database with the profiles, but I need the data for lift, drag, angle of attack, etc.

When I was in college we had a big book in the engineering library that had all the data with the curves plotted out but I cant seem to come up with the name of it.

Thanks

Mike
martymayes
07-14-2012, 03:37 PM
"Theory of wing sections and summary of airfoil data" by Abbott & Von Doenhoff?

Might not interest you but Barnaby Wainfan did a series in Kitplanes and it was later compiled into book form called "Understanding and choosing airfoils for light aircraft"
Mike Switzer
07-14-2012, 04:01 PM
"Theory of wing sections and summary of airfoil data" by Abbott & Von Doenhoff?

I'm pretty sure that one only has data on NACA airfoils, and the ones I need right now aren't NACA.


Might not interest you but Barnaby Wainfan did a series in Kitplanes and it was later compiled into book form called "Understanding and choosing airfoils for light aircraft"

Haven't heard of that one, I will have to check it out & see if I can find out what is included. I wonder if the articles are on the Kitplanes website?
GoldenAge
07-15-2012, 12:47 AM
Some of them are buried in compilation reports. Which ones are you looking for?
martymayes
07-15-2012, 06:11 AM
Haven't heard of that one, I will have to check it out & see if I can find out what is included. I wonder if the articles are on the Kitplanes website?

Dunno. Seems like it would be. If not, you can order through actechbooks in ebook format for $16.50.
Mike Switzer
07-15-2012, 06:30 AM
Some of them are buried in compilation reports. Which ones are you looking for?

These (to start with):


GU25-5(11)8
Roncz R1145MS
Eppler 1230
NACA 4414
Wortmann FX60-126
Half Biconvex (whatever that is - it is the original wing used on the VariViggen)

I was going to plug the data into either Excel or MathCad to generate the graphs & calculate performance under certain conditions.
Mike Switzer
07-15-2012, 06:34 AM
Dunno. Seems like it would be. If not, you can order through actechbooks in ebook format for $16.50.

Hopefully I can look for it this afternoon.
TonyG
07-16-2012, 03:18 PM
I'm not sure if it contains data on all the airfoils you need, but I would guess what you're looking for is the NASA Technical Reports Server (http://ntrs.nasa.gov).

-Tony
Mike Switzer
07-16-2012, 03:51 PM
Thanks Tony, I think that may be it.

I'm trying to use XFLR5 to generate some of the data & I feel like the girl in that commercial "Dad, my computer is so slow"
tsparker99
07-19-2012, 06:20 PM
2278
It sounds like you are building a Cozy. I generated the curves you are looking for many years ago. They are available on Marc Zeitlin's Cozy website in the downloads section or you can e-mail me at tsparker99@comcast.net and I will send them to you. Or hopefully my attachment works.

Todd Parker
Donald Reid
07-19-2012, 07:33 PM
Try AeroFoilengineering.com
SteveC
07-19-2012, 08:59 PM
"G A Airfoils" by Harry Riblett has just about everything a designer needs to choose an airfoil for a given mission.
Mike Switzer
07-19-2012, 09:48 PM
Todd - Thanks, that is what I was looking for. Not building a Cozy, but similar, started with a LongEZ set of plans & it evolved. I'm to the point of making sure the CG & lift are in the same general place & that is hard when you can't compute lift.

I see you did those with XFoil (which I messed with many years ago, but I have forgotten anything I knew) - I have been trying to do the same with XFLR5 but I keep getting errors that it is unconverged after 100 iterations...
Mike Switzer
07-19-2012, 09:52 PM
"G A Airfoils" by Harry Riblett has just about everything a designer needs to choose an airfoil for a given mission.

I have that one on order, hoping it has useful information.
Mike Switzer
07-19-2012, 09:53 PM
Try AeroFoilengineering.com

Thanks, I will check it out
tsparker99
07-20-2012, 05:46 PM
"G A Airfoils" by Harry Riblett has just about everything a designer needs to choose an airfoil for a given mission.

Riblett's airfoils are simple modifications of NACA airfoils, basically with larger leading edge radii. His airfoils are good if you are willing to give up some speed for improved stall characteristics. There is nothing magic in his airfoils. One more thing to keep in mind with any airfoil data is that it only applies to the range of Reynolds numbers for which it was analyzed and/or tested at. Don't ignore this important factor.

Todd