Airfoil Data
NACA1412

The NACA 1412 is a thin 6.9% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 3.5% at 30% chord, suited to high-speed UAVs, sailplane tip sections, and propeller blade design. At zero angle of attack the cambered geometry generates positive lift, giving an estimated zero-lift angle of -3.5°.

Thin airfoil theory predicts a stall angle near 11.9° and a peak lift-to-drag ratio around 55 at typical UAV and light-aircraft Reynolds numbers — useful benchmarks before running a full XFOIL or NeuralFoil polar. The slim profile minimises pressure drag at higher speeds but leaves limited spar depth for structural integration.

The NACA1412 appears in the wing design of at least 2 documented aircraft, including designs from Bellanca and Douglas. Its proven track record across canard designs makes it one of the more field-validated profiles in the UIUC database.

Designers evaluating the NACA1412 typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: HQ 1.0/12 AIRFOIL, ONERA NACA CAMBRE AIRFOIL, BOEING-VERTOL VR-1 AIRFOIL, HQ 1.5/11 AIRFOIL, HAWKER TEMPEST 61% SEMISPAN AIRFOIL. The NACA 1410 is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.