Airfoil Data
NACA23018

The NACA 23018 is a 10.6% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 5.3% at 25% 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 -5.3°.

Thin airfoil theory predicts a stall angle near 11.7° and a peak lift-to-drag ratio around 65 at typical UAV and light-aircraft Reynolds numbers — useful benchmarks before running a full XFOIL or NeuralFoil polar. The 11% thickness provides structural depth for main-spar placement without excessive drag penalty at moderate speeds.

The NACA23018 appears in the wing design of at least 180 documented aircraft, including designs from Cessna and Miles. 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 NACA23018 typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: NACA 5-H-15 AIRFOIL, EPPLER 342 AIRFOIL, GOE 775 AIRFOIL, USA 27 AIRFOIL, EPPLER 544 AIRFOIL. The NACA 23015 is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.