Airfoil Data
NACA23021

The NACA 23021 is a 12.1% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 6.0% at 30% chord, suited to high-lift UAV wings, RC sailplanes, and low-Reynolds-number slow-flyers. 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 NACA23021 appears in the wing design of at least 43 documented aircraft, including designs from Handley 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 NACA23021 typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: GOE 626 AIRFOIL, EPPLER 560 AIRFOIL, HORSTMANN AND QUAST HQ-300 GD(MOD 2) AIRFOIL, NACA 63(3)-618, GOE 501 AIRFOIL. The NACA 23015 is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.