Airfoil Data
USA40B
USA 40 B AIRFOIL
Wing Geometry Simulator
The USA 40 B AIRFOIL is a 10.6% chord-thickness airfoil with a maximum camber of 5.3% 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 -5.3°.
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 11% thickness provides structural depth for main-spar placement without excessive drag penalty at moderate speeds.
The USA40B appears in the wing design of at least 8 documented aircraft, including designs from Bird and Brunner-Winkle. Its proven track record across canard designs makes it one of the more field-validated profiles in the UIUC database.
Designers evaluating the USA40B typically compare it against profiles of similar thickness: EPPLER 638 AIRFOIL, SPICA 11.73% smoothed, FX 61-147 AIRFOIL, GOE 775 AIRFOIL, USA 27 AIRFOIL. The Zv(15-35)16 is another reference profile frequently considered alongside it.
Aircraft Using the USA40B Airfoil
Bird Biplane | Bird | USA 40B mod | Constant |
Bird C | Bird | USA 40B mod | Constant |
Bird CJ | Bird | USA 40B mod | Constant |
Bird CK | Bird | USA 40B mod | Constant |
Brunne & Winkel Biplane | Brunne | USA 40B | Constant |
Brunner-Winkle Bird A | Brunner-Winkle | USA 40B mod | Constant |
Brunner-Winkle Bird BK | Brunner-Winkle | USA 40B mod | Constant |
Brunner-Winkle Bird BW | Brunner-Winkle | USA 40B mod | Constant |
Design wings in your spreadsheet
AeroSheet loads USA40B airfoils directly into Google Sheets. Polars, 3D splines, Fusion 360 export, without leaving your spreadsheet.
Install in Google Sheets coming soonRelated Airfoils
Engineers evaluating the USA40B frequently compare it against profiles with comparable geometric constraints. Below are the closest matches based on maximum thickness (10.6%) and max camber (5.3%).
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