Airfoil Data
NACA4418
NACA 4418
Wing Geometry Simulator
The NACA 4418 is a 12.8% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 6.4% 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 -6.4°.
Thin airfoil theory predicts a stall angle near 11.3° and a peak lift-to-drag ratio around 70 at typical UAV and light-aircraft Reynolds numbers — useful benchmarks before running a full XFOIL or NeuralFoil polar. The 13% thickness provides structural depth for main-spar placement without excessive drag penalty at moderate speeds.
The NACA4418 appears in the wing design of at least 30 documented aircraft, including designs from Lake and Civil. 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 NACA4418 typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: GOE 387 AIRFOIL, MH 114 13.02%, GOE 433 AIRFOIL, AH 94-145, EPPLER 603 AIRFOIL. The NACA 4412 is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.
Aircraft Using the NACA4418 Airfoil
Anderson Greenwood 14 | Anderson | NACA 4418 | Constant |
Baumann B-250 Brigadier | Baumann | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Baumann B-290 Brigadier | Baumann | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Bee Queen Bee | Bee | NACA 4418 mod | Constant |
Beecraft Honey Bee | Beecraft | NACA 4418 mod | Constant |
Civil Aviation Dept RG-1 Rohini | Civil | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Civil Aviation Dept TS-2 Ashvini | Civil | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Civil Aviation Dept TS-4 Ashvini | Civil | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Colonial C-1 Skimmer | Colonial | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Colonial C-2 Skimmer IV | Colonial | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Coward D-8 | Coward | NACA 4418 | Constant |
Custer CCW-5 Channel Wing | Custer | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Grumman G-65 Tadpole | Grumman | NACA 4418 ? | NACA 4412 ? |
Gwinn Aircar | Gwinn | NACA 4418 | Constant |
Laister Lawrence Tech Yankee Doodle | Laister | NACA 4418/4416 | NACA 4409 |
Laister-Kauffmann LK-10B TG-4A | Laister-Kauffmann | NACA 4418 | NACA 4409 |
Lake LA-250 Renegade | Lake | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Lake LA-270 Seafury | Lake | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Lake LA-270 Turbo Renegade | Lake | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Lake LA-4 Buccaneer | Lake | NACA 4418 | NACA 4412 |
Wing lofting: 22 of these aircraft taper from NACA4418 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 NACA4418 frequently compare it against profiles with comparable geometric constraints. Below are the closest matches based on maximum thickness (12.8%) and max camber (6.4%).