# NACA 2412 airfoil

> What is the exact shape of the NACA 2412 airfoil, and what do the digits mean?

- Category: Airfoils › NACA 4-digit
- Kind: Standard part
- Basis: Computed from the NACA equations (Report 460 / Report 610, restated in NASA TM-4741)
- Page: https://xemstudio.com/objects/naca-2412-airfoil/ · JSON: https://xemstudio.com/api/geometry?object=naca-2412-airfoil · Plain text: https://xemstudio.com/objects/naca-2412-airfoil/sheet.txt
- License: dimension sheet CC BY 4.0 (Xem Studio); files Xem Studio Design License (free to use and sell from, not to redistribute as files: https://xemstudio.com/license/)
- Use in every chat: add https://xemstudio.com/mcp as a connector (https://xemstudio.com/use-with-ai/)

## Overall (mm)

| length | width | height |
|---|---|---|
| 100.0 | 20.0 | 12.0 |

**Exact dimensions.** True size, with no printing tolerance added.

## Notes

- NACA 2412 has 2% camber at 40% chord and 12% thickness (designation per NASA TM-4741). NACA data give CL of about 0.25 at zero angle, a zero-lift angle of -2 deg and CLmax about 1.7, up from about 1.6 for the 0012 (Virginia Tech Appendix A).
- Its quarter-chord moment is roughly constant and negative (nose-down) between stall onsets (Virginia Tech).
- NACA 4-digit sections have good stall behaviour, small centre-of-pressure movement and low roughness sensitivity, but a low CLmax, relatively high drag and high pitching moment (Aerospaceweb summary).
- NACA 2412: 2 % camber at 40 % chord, 12 % thick.
- NACA 4-digit: first digit = maximum camber in % of chord, second = its position in tenths of chord, last two = maximum thickness in % of chord (NACA Report 460).
- Ordinates are in % of chord from the leading edge, computed from the published equations with the closed-trailing-edge thickness coefficient (−0.1036, as in NASA TM-4741). The original reports use an open trailing edge (−0.1015); the difference is under 0.03 % of chord near the trailing edge.
- The file is a 100 mm chord section, 20 mm deep: scale it uniformly to your chord, or import the STEP and sweep or loft it into a wing. Thickness scales with chord; the shape is the same at any size.
- Max camber / position / thickness: 2% at 40% chord / 12% (NASA TM-4741)
- CL at 0 deg: about 0.25 (Virginia Tech Appendix A)
- Zero-lift angle: -2 deg (Virginia Tech Appendix A)
- CLmax (Re 6e6): about 1.7 (Virginia Tech Appendix A)
- Cm c/4: negative, roughly constant (Virginia Tech Appendix A)
- 4-digit code: 1st digit max camber %c; 2nd digit camber position in tenths c; last two thickness %c (NASA TM-4741; Aerospaceweb)
- Thickness equation (t/c = 0.20 basis): y/c = 0.2969 sqrt(x) - 0.1260 x - 0.3516 x^2 + 0.2843 x^3 - 0.1015 x^4, scaled by (t/c)/0.20 (NASA TM-4741)

## Sizes

| x (% chord) | upper x | upper y | lower x | lower y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| 1.25 | 1.067 | 2.008 | 1.433 | -1.762 |
| 2.5 | 2.256 | 2.845 | 2.744 | -2.361 |
| 5 | 4.690 | 4.010 | 5.310 | -3.072 |
| 7.5 | 7.160 | 4.866 | 7.840 | -3.506 |
| 10 | 9.650 | 5.545 | 10.350 | -3.795 |
| 15 | 14.667 | 6.553 | 15.333 | -4.116 |
| 20 | 19.713 | 7.230 | 20.287 | -4.230 |
| 25 | 24.777 | 7.655 | 25.223 | -4.218 |
| 30 | 29.850 | 7.874 | 30.150 | -4.124 |
| 40 | 40.000 | 7.800 | 40.000 | -3.800 |
| 50 | 50.059 | 7.230 | 49.941 | -3.341 |
| 60 | 60.101 | 6.324 | 59.899 | -2.768 |
| 70 | 70.121 | 5.132 | 69.879 | -2.132 |
| 80 | 80.114 | 3.680 | 79.886 | -1.458 |
| 90 | 90.076 | 1.974 | 89.924 | -0.752 |
| 95 | 95.043 | 1.022 | 94.957 | -0.383 |
| 100 | 100.000 | -0.000 | 100.000 | 0.000 |

## Where the files are

- NACA (NASA Technical Reports Server): [Report 460: The characteristics of 78 related airfoil sections from tests in the variable-density wind tunnel (Jacobs, Ward, Pinkerton, 1933)](https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19930091108) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
- NASA: [TM-4741: Computer program to obtain ordinates for NACA airfoils (Ladson, Brooks, Hill, Sproles, 1996)](https://www.pdas.com/refs/tm4741.pdf) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
- Virginia Tech Pressbooks (data from Abbott & von Doenhoff, NACA): [Appendix A: Airfoil Data](https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/aerodynamics/?p=52) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
- NASA Langley (Ladson et al.), NASA TM-4741: [Computer Program to Obtain Ordinates for NACA Airfoils](https://www.pdas.com/refs/tm4741.pdf) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
- Aerospaceweb.org: [NACA Airfoil Series](https://aerospaceweb.org/question/airfoils/q0041.shtml) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts
- engrXiv (Bhattacharya et al., ICMMM 2023): [Design and Computational Analysis of Y-tail Configuration for Maritime UAV](https://engrxiv.org/preprint/download/6582/10812/9153) — web — Publisher's page; dimensions are facts

## Free STEP/STL (1 parts, Xem Studio Design License, Xem Studio)

Index: https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/naca-2412-airfoil/index.json · license: https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/naca-2412-airfoil/LICENSE.md

- naca-2412-airfoil-section-100mm-chord: [STEP](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/naca-2412-airfoil/naca-2412-airfoil-section-100mm-chord.step) · [STL](https://xemstudio.com/files/hardware/naca-2412-airfoil/naca-2412-airfoil-section-100mm-chord.stl) — NACA 2412 section, 100 mm chord × 20 mm span, closed trailing edge, 160 points from the equations (scale to your chord)

## Questions

**Is NACA 2412 good for an RC trainer?**

It is mildly cambered (CL 0.25 at 0 deg, CLmax ~1.7 at Re 6e6) with benign 4-digit stall (Virginia Tech; Aerospaceweb).

**How thick is the NACA 2412?**

Maximum thickness 12.00 % of chord at 30.0 % chord: 12.00 mm on a 100 mm chord.

**Where is the NACA 2412's camber?**

Maximum camber 2.00 % of chord at 40.0 % chord.

**How do I use it for my wing?**

Scale the 100 mm section to your chord (e.g. 180 mm chord = 180 % scale), then extrude or loft between root and tip sections. For a tapered wing, scale a root and a tip copy and loft between them.

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