What would be a good airfoil for a FPV flying wing

RcPro97

New member
Hi everyone.
I am designing a flying wing. It is going to be 1m wingspan and I'm thinking that eventually I will add a small FPV system and use to teach myself FPV.

I have designed it to be similar to the raptor 100 which I saw in this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W7Zz4YVEqM

I'm wondering what airfoil would be good for this. I'm thinking that I will be flying meduim-low speeds. Would like it to be stable and nice and controllable.

Thanks.
 

Team_Monkey

New member
If you are going for extreme efficiency, or just want the exercise of a design then I wish you luck. Profili 2 is a great bit of free software for selecting, designing and plotting airfoils.

That being said, for our models you really don't need to get hung up on it. :D Many great FPV platforms have used simple KFM2 flatplate airfoils or just a simple 100% symmetrical airfoil.

Here is a 72" symetrical wing I built a few years ago that would fly fast or slow.
Maiden flight video has a couple "colorful words" so watch it with care. :black_eyed:

Good Luck!
 

makattack

Winter is coming
Moderator
Mentor
Are you comfortable with flying delta wings? If not, go with the cheapest and quickest to build, because you will be building a bunch of them as you gain experience! I used the versa wing as my first wing.

I'm on my fourth build, which is the blunt nosed version and I'm flying it with apm with an airspeed sensor and osd. My next build will incorporate a more accessible avionics bay.
 

Snarls

Gravity Tester
Mentor
If not, go with the cheapest and quickest to build, because you will be building a bunch of them as you gain experience!.

Yes, I would be more concerned about getting a platform to fit and easily access your gear rather than finding the perfect airfoil. Depending on how good you are with hot wire cutting you could cut a wing like Trent's raptor, or build a blunt nose versa for less than $5.
 

earthsciteach

Moderator
Moderator
:confused:

I've been accused of being an airfoil diva by a mean person (ahem…. Flying Monkey) which may mean I have a skewed opinion on this.

Airfoil design is critical in terms of efficiency, particularly for flying wings. Most of the foam RC world operates on a scale where power can easily overcome poor lift/high drag airfoils. But, if you really want to push flight times, airfoils are where its at!

Here are some resources:
http://www.mh-aerotools.de/airfoils/index.htm
http://www.aerodesign.de/english/profile/profile_s.htm
http://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/flyingWingAfs/
http://www.compufoil.com/index.shtml
http://www.xflr5.com/xflr5.htm ****I like this one!****

Airfoils do not scale down well, so if you are looking at full scale airfoils, keep that in mind.
 

AkimboGlueGuns

Biplane Guy
Mentor
With all the previous information in mind, it's really easiest to do a flat bottomed airfoil (clark Y) due to it's naturally nice tendencies and high production of lift. Also keep in mind that the thicker the airfoil (usually) means more lift and will also make more drag.