Airfoil Data
NACA2418

The NACA 2418 is a 10.9% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 5.4% at 30% 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 -5.4°.

Thin airfoil theory predicts a stall angle near 11.7° and a peak lift-to-drag ratio around 66 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 NACA2418 appears in the wing design of at least 35 documented aircraft, including designs from Fairchild and Zlin. 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 NACA2418 typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: GOE 497 AIRFOIL, GOE 319 (HANSA-BRANDENBURG II) AIRFOIL, GOE 619 AIRFOIL, GOE 15K AIRFOIL, CLARK YM-15 AIRFOIL. The NACA 2415 is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.