Good day folks.
I heard one fellow at the fly-in mentioned a software for designing an airfoil using certain parameters..
Anybody knows the software that is capable of such task?
Thanks.

Do a search on "dreese airfoil" and also look into Xfoil. The easy way to find and use the Xfoil utility is download and pay to unlock the Xfoil interface in Profili2 from www.profili2.com .

I have not looked into the Dreese coding myself so I'm not sure it actually does the airfoil shaping for you. X foil isn't to actually shape the airfoil but it acts like a virtual windtunnel and plots out the performace curves based on various input conditions and assumptions. It's been tested against actual wind tunnel results and is quite close to accurate.

But I'm not sure why you think you need to design your own airfoil given that there is roughly a few thousand airfoils already out there and many of them are proven performers. It's far easier to just use one that is proven to do well at the style of flying that you are interested in.

Thanks Bruce!
I don't want to design,really..just want to print out a flat bottom airfoil and cut out a template for foam cut wing .
Thanks for taking time and explaining.

Mitty

That's different then. For that you can download the same program and just use the free part to do the basics. But it's well worth the $12US to open up the extras.

Profili 2 you are talking about??

I really like CompuFoil. It's the only one I use for drawing up a wing and ribs fast. You can download a demo from their site www.compufoil.com

The program will cost you a few bucks but is worth every penny. You can do all sorts of stuff like add wash out, jig tabs, spars, sweep, etc. I use it to design my wings then export them to my CAD program and paste them to the model Im working on. Check it out.

Yes, I was refering back to my fits post where Profili was mentioned.

CompuFoil is way too expensive.....I just forund out that you need a module here, a module there just to get the full program. C'mon. Before you know it, you're way over a $100.00! [:@]Try the Giles software. It does everything from the ground up. It's only $69 bucks.

Sheesh, get the author right willya? Stefano Durone does Profili. Eric Sanders does CompuFoil. Both are great programs; both have great support. One is American, one isn't. I bought C/Foil early on and have upgraded each time it changed. Fantastic software, worth every penny if your time and happiness mean anything to you. Profili's great too and is less expensive. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

Giles Muller does the French CNC foam cutting software that lotsa folks use.

I just recently got into the scrath building/designing portion of the hobby and find myself having to use a combination of three programs (profili V2, compufoil, and solidworks-in that order). Usually I select and test the airfoils I want in profili. Then, export them to compufoil (compufoil has 400+ airfoils in it's library vs. profili has 2000+). Design and draw the wing in compufoil (compufoil's very user friendly and 3-D capable). Lastly, export the wing to solidworks where I have already made the fuse and other parts. From there just send the DXF files to the laser cutter and..... wham I've got an airplane!

My $0.02

Mods

Mods-R-Me,
What would you estimate each of those programs cost you?

Compufoil is an extremely nice program. Well worth the money, if you need the features. Buying it module-by-module means you only buy what you need. But if all you want is a constant chord airfoil and can use CAD a little, there's plenty of places to download individual airfoils in .dxf format.

Or just draw your own. There's very little science needed for a flat-bottomed airfoil. Draw the bottom line, then 1/4 of the way back, draw a vertical line that's about twelve percent of the bottom line in length. Use the bezier tool to draw the top. Round the front, place spars, LE and TE. Done!

Just wanted to know, what foil did you want, how big, and what format. I can just give you the foil itself if that's all you need. This hobby is expensive enough and if you're just going to need one or very few foils, I'm pretty sure I can get them for you. I have a very old freeware program that makes foils from NACA numbers. If you give me the thickness you want in percentage. I could come up with something.

There are also some freeware airfoil genberator tools out there, albeit rudamentary but they do generate the correct foils if you already know what you need.


B

Profili V2 Full Version: $12.00. [link=http://www.profili2.com/eng/default.htm]www.profili2.com[/link]

It is genuinely worth much more than that. The airfoil library is extensive and it has Xfoil (simulated wind tunnel) which can throughly test all the airfoils and given speeds, alititudes, and even Alphas. From an analysis stand point, I don't how I designed wings without it. I also, highly recommend the add on Isoplus for another $12.00. It gives even more analysis tools to the airfoil designer. I'm still trying to find new ways to fully exploit the software.

Compufoil: Full version with all the add-ons $162.00 [link=http://www.compufoil.com]www.compufoil.com[/link]

Before anyone screams bloody murder about the price, it is well worth every penny. It truly brings the tedious task of wing design to the "point and click users" of this day and age. No manual, no research, just look at the menu and select the feature you want. Lightening holes, spars, elliptical platforms, modify/create different airfoils (then export it to profili and test it), you can even import drawings and work off of those. Lastly, the support/creator is an awesome guy to work with. I once commented the he might want to add more analysis tools to his software to possibly improve it. He humbly replied "I'm not an aero engineer and I really don't want to add anything to my software that I do not fully understand myself." Top notch guy. He actually uses the software he designs (sounds foolish to state that but I've been surprised more than once with people who don't use/like their own products)!

Solidworks: Student version $199 for 24 month license and $4000 for full license [link=http://www.solidworks.com/pages/products/edu/solidworksforstudents.html]www.solidworks.com[/link]

We took an intro class for this in college and I was hooked ever since. Not only can it design in 3-D, but you can even stress test the designs. Bad *****!

Hope this helps

Mods