Fellas

I would like to know your thoughts concerning the "best (in your opinion)" airfoil for a carrier plane.

What do you think?

     Bob's topic mentioned above is on page 4 about 2/3 of the way down. Some good information there but as I didn't have a reply there I'll put one here. I've used both Clark Y and symmetrical in the carrier planes that I've built in the last few years. If the plane is not going to go over 75mph I'll probably use the Clark Y for 2 reasons. #1 it doesn't have to go over 75mph so it good enough, #2 I can build it on a flat table top over the plans so don't have to build a jig. I'm using Clark Y in my last 3 .15 carrier planes and they all made it over 70mph by just a little but a little over is enough. I built the e-109T that I'm flying now with a Clark Y because I thought it wouldn't go over 80mph just because it was e-power but found out it was turning 85+mph so when I build another e-profile it will have a symmetrical are foil and I hope to reach 90+ with it.
     The airfoil that I'm using right now is a 40% airfoil (the thickest point of the wing (one inch) is 40% behind the LE) and I have attached a picture of it. I like this airfoil because it is fast (I think), and it stalls real soon so goes into the hang easily. After the HS portion is over I throttle the engine back and when it has slowed to just above falling out of the sky I give up elevator and throttle up and the prop wash blows the tail down and there I am in the hang. Also I've attached 2 pictures of the 109T profile wing ribs.  Eric

     Your right it is angled up. I almost always line up the center of the engine with the center of the fuel tank, and with the center of the the wing (you can draw a line from the center of the crank shaft straight through the center of the tank and then straight through the middle of the airfoil). This reduces the frontal area that the engine has to pull through the air. It also helps when your building a low wing air plane to keeping the TE down near the bottom of the fuselage while the LE turns out to be closer to the center of the fuselage. You see the TE at or near the bottom of the fuselage but you usually don't notice where the LE is because its covered up or blocked from you vision by the engine and fuel tank. Its all about looks and frontal area.
     I know there are a few people around that will say a thick wing doesn't slow the plane down but when you consider frontal area it almost has to in my book. Maybe that idea comes from the combat fliers with rather thick airfoils so they will turn better and still can reach speeds of 120mph (what they say) but I think they reach those speeds because their planes are so light, many time half the weight of the carrier planes.  Eric

     Don, I think this might be the airfoil that you were referring too in the above reply. This is the wing rib for Dick Perry's profile MO-1 that was kitted by Golden State Models. I built and flew 4 of the profiles and then went on to build several CL-1&2 MO-1s with the same airfoil. It is a real fast airfoil and the CL-1&2 MOs usually topped out over 100mph. I built these wings on a jig that I built (my first of many jigs) and figured I was fixed for life with carrier wings. It was about 10 years later that I started using symmetrical airfoils and ended up with about a dozen more jigs, each one of them was going to be the last and best. So much for those thoughts.  Eric

If your airplane flies tail high/nose down to fly level, then your wing is generating too much lift. Maybe symmetrical would work better.

I agree with everything said above.  My only other thought, is that the L.E. needs to be of a small radius to make it stall more easily, and get into the hang quicker.  My best plane for haning, which is a prototype to test out this very theory, has a 1/16" leading edge radius, and all you have to do to get it into the hang, is chop the throttle and pull up.  It dops right in, and will stay stable at all angles.