Airfoil Data
NACAM18

The NACA M18 is a 12.4% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 6.2% 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 -6.2°.

Thin airfoil theory predicts a stall angle near 11.5° 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 12% thickness provides structural depth for main-spar placement without excessive drag penalty at moderate speeds.

The NACAM18 appears in the wing design of at least 14 documented aircraft, including designs from WACO and Rearwin. 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 NACAM18 typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: N-22, EPPLER 587 AIRFOIL, EPPLER 432 AIRFOIL, EPPLER 657 AIRFOIL, NASA/LANGLEY LS(1)-0421 AIRFOIL. The NACA M6 is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.