Hi. I'm a high school Physics teacher (11th & 12th graders) and have given my classes a year-long aircraft building project: design, build and fly an aircraft. My plan is to teach my students physics theory and principles as they design and build this aircraft from scratch, no kit.

I understand how and why planes fly (I was a rocket scientist in my former professional life). I'm new to RC aircraft and need some (ok _lots_) help getting started. The info I've found says (basically) 'pick an engine/prop and design the plane around them'. Because I want to teach the _design process_ as well as the physics of it all, I'd like to start with an airfoil and go from there.

Before I continuing, is this a path I should be taking? If not, I'll start over but where?

If so:

My Starting Point:
airfoil (NACA 2415) with chord = 0.2 m and span = 1.2 m
AOA = 6 degrees at Re=3 x10^6
Cl = 0.8
Cd = 0.008
(from airfoil data tables from one of my undergraduate textbooks)
[total flight-ready mass depends on a lot of things that are TBD, see below]

I can calculate theoretical lift (with the help of a friend who is currently a practicing rocket scientist, using integrals and other stuff I barely remember). I'll put in a safety factor of 20%. So I "have" L, but that depends on thrust so ultimately, success depends on the engine/propeller combo. Weight depends on engine size, batteries, etc. ... A circular argument, but that's the beauty and challenge of iterative design!

FINALLY the questions:
where can I find the engine and prop data so I can have a starting point for the design iterations?
how do I select an electric engine and prop?

It's beginning to look like I'm in over my head, but that's never stopped me before.
Thank you for reading this through and thanks in advance for any and all assistance.