I'm curious as to where I can get the best FREE (no demo) of a very very good airfoil design software? im trying this profili right now

The CD is only $15, with inflation that is almost free based on what I spend on anything else.

are there any demos out there? Whats profili

Read all about it: http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...653&forumid=19]

How easy is it to actually design airfoils with Profili? Does it streamline the XFoil design routines or does it have it's own design package?

XFoil is wonderful for analysis of subsonic airfoils, but it's design routines are a little less then intuitive.

i am looking for something like that, that i can send the airfoils to be cut by a laser cutting company, but i wasnt looking to spend 10 just so i can print it or something.

same here.... I like the whole Profili thing... but its a pain to pay 15$ for something like this..

Daniel - I haven't toyed much with the standalone version of XFoil; only enough to conclude that it wasn't very user-friendly. Profili does allow editing of airfoil coordinate points, as well as modifying camber, thickness, etc. Attached is a screen shot of the XFoil settings menu in Profili; hope it helps.

scole - The ability to laser-cut depends on the file format used by the cutting service. Profili can export airfoil data in 4 formats: .PRO, .DAT, .COR (used by CompuFoil), and .TXT. I'm sure your laser-cutting service uses at least one of these formats. Profili can also import files in .PRO, .DAT, .COR, and even raster, e.g. bitmap (.BMP), formats.

Shortman - Hope you're implying that the mode of payment is a pain, and not that software of this type is overpriced at $15 ?!? At that price, it's easy to underestimate XFoil, and assume that it simply plots charts or interpolates pre-loaded data. No, XFoil is a bona fide CFD program - Realize that were it not for Mark Drela and MIT releasing the program as shareware into the public domain, an equivalent commercial product would likely cost in the upper 3 figures, if not $1,000+. If you want to know the nitty-gritty that went into it (or need a cure for insomnia ) read this http://raphael.mit.edu/xfoil/xfoil_doc.txt

yes, payment is a pain

Not to sound like some company mouthpiece, but I do highly recommend XFoil for the analysis of subsonic airfoils. If you're into designing and building your own planes, there's no better airfoil tool.

That said, it is very tough to understand at first, and I if I didn't already know how to use it, I'd probably pony up the 15 for Profili.

Print the registration form, include 10 bucks, address, stamp, drop in box. A week later, a license key arrives by email.

Sophisticated airfoil analysis, big airfoil database, and basic rib generation all with a decent interface for 10 bucks... it's cool, even if all you do is play with it.

19 years later... "Airfoil Tools" for Fusion360 (free) rocks. visit foils.pro for the links, or search "Airfoil Tools" form inside the Fusion360 store.

[QUOTE=Shortman;512187]same here....