Airfoil Data
AMSOIL1

The RUTAN CANARD AIRFOIL is a thin 7.9% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 3.9% at 42% 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 -3.9°.

Thin airfoil theory predicts a stall angle near 11.8° and a peak lift-to-drag ratio around 57 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.

Designers evaluating the AMSOIL1 typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: NACA 2412, FX60-100 10.0% smoothed, BOEING-VERTOL VR-11X AIRFOIL, HQ 3.0/10 AIRFOIL, S9037 (9%). The GOE 646 AIRFOIL is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.