Airfoil Data
DAE31
DAE-31 AIRFOIL
Wing Geometry Simulator
The DAE-31 AIRFOIL is a 12.0% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 6.0% at 38% chord, suited to general-aviation and UAV wing design. At zero angle of attack the cambered geometry generates positive lift, giving an estimated zero-lift angle of -6.0°.
Thin airfoil theory predicts a stall angle near 11.6° and a peak lift-to-drag ratio around 69 at typical UAV and light-aircraft Reynolds numbers — useful benchmarks before running a full XFOIL or NeuralFoil polar. The 12% thickness provides structural depth for main-spar placement without excessive drag penalty at moderate speeds.
The DAE31 appears in the wing design of at least 8 documented aircraft, including designs from Nihon and Raven. Its proven track record across conventional and rotorcraft designs makes it one of the more field-validated profiles in the UIUC database.
Designers evaluating the DAE31 typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: EPPLER 1214 AIRFOIL, GOE 405 AIRFOIL, Bambino 6, GOE 703 AIRFOIL, RAF 6 AIRFOIL, 12%, LE rad. 0.012, TE rad. 0.0092, NACA TR259 smoothed. The DAE-51 AIRFOIL is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.
Aircraft Using the DAE31 Airfoil
Nihon University Mowe X elf | Nihon | Drela DAE 31 | Constant |
Nihon University Mowe XIII | Nihon | Drela DAE 31 | Drela DAE 31 bis |
Nihon University Mowe XIV | Nihon | Drela DAE 31 | Constant |
Nihon University Sakuzo 4 | Nihon | Drela DAE 11 | Drela DAE 31 |
Nihon University Sakuzo 5 | Nihon | Drela DAE 31 mod | Constant |
Raven HPA | Raven | Drela DAE 11/DAE 21 | Drela DAE 31/DAE 41 |
Team Aeroscepsy Sinbad | Team | Drela DAE 11/ DAE 21 | Drela DAE 31 |
Tohoku University Windnauts HPA | Tohoku | Drela DAE 21 | Drela DAE 31 |
Wing lofting: 5 of these aircraft taper from DAE31 at the root to a different tip section. Use the Tapered filter to isolate them, then click any tip airfoil link to compare geometries.
Related Airfoils
Engineers evaluating the DAE31 frequently compare it against profiles with comparable geometric constraints. Below are the closest matches based on maximum thickness (12.0%) and max camber (6.0%).