Airfoil Data
RAF27

The RAF 27 AIRFOIL is a thin 4.9% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 2.4% at 30% chord, suited to high-speed UAVs, sailplane tip sections, and propeller blade design. At zero angle of attack the cambered geometry generates positive lift, giving an estimated zero-lift angle of -2.4°.

Thin airfoil theory predicts a stall angle near 12.0° and a peak lift-to-drag ratio around 49 at typical UAV and light-aircraft Reynolds numbers — useful benchmarks before running a full XFOIL or NeuralFoil polar. The slim profile minimises pressure drag at higher speeds but leaves limited spar depth for structural integration.

The RAF27 appears in the wing design of at least 4 documented aircraft, including designs from Supermarine and Short. Its proven track record across canard designs makes it one of the more field-validated profiles in the UIUC database.

Designers evaluating the RAF27 typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: EPPLER 874 HYDROFOIL AIRFOIL, RG 14A-1.4/7.0 AIRFOIL, JX-GS-04, BELL 540 AIRFOIL (MODIFIED NACA 0012), NPL 9510 AIRFOIL. The E212 (10.55%) is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.