Airfoil Data
RAF48
RAF-48 AIRFOIL
Wing Geometry Simulator
The RAF-48 AIRFOIL is a 10.4% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 5.2% 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 -5.2°.
Thin airfoil theory predicts a stall angle near 11.7° and a peak lift-to-drag ratio around 65 at typical UAV and light-aircraft Reynolds numbers — useful benchmarks before running a full XFOIL or NeuralFoil polar. The 10% thickness provides structural depth for main-spar placement without excessive drag penalty at moderate speeds.
The RAF48 appears in the wing design of at least 26 documented aircraft, including designs from Percival and Phoenix. 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 RAF48 typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: GOE 298 AIRFOIL, EPPLER 543 AIRFOIL, SG6040, GOE 238 (HANSA-BRANDENBURG) AIRFOIL, GOE 500 AIRFOIL. The FX 73-CL2-152 is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.
Aircraft Using the RAF48 Airfoil
Avions Fairey Tipsy S.2 | Avions | RAF-48 | RAF-28/RAF-38 |
Kopke GK-1 | Kopke | RAF-48 | Constant |
Luton Minor | Luton | RAF-48 | Constant |
Percival D.1 Gull | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival D.2 Gull Four | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival D.3 Gull Six | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival K.1 Vega Gull | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival P.28 Proctor I | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival P.29 Proctor | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival P.30 Proctor II | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival P.31 Proctor IV | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival P.34 Proctor III | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival P.40 Prentice | Percival | RAF-48 | Constant |
Percival P.44 Proctor V | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival P.45 Proctor VI | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival P.47 | Percival | RAF-48 mod | Constant |
Percival P.48 Merganser | Percival | RAF-48 | Constant |
Percival P.50 Prince | Percival | RAF-48 | Constant |
Percival P.54 Survey Prince | Percival | RAF-48 | Constant |
Percival P.57 Sea Prince | Percival | RAF-48 | Constant |
Wing lofting: 1 of these aircraft taper from RAF48 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 RAF48 frequently compare it against profiles with comparable geometric constraints. Below are the closest matches based on maximum thickness (10.4%) and max camber (5.2%).