Inventors:
Jay Carter - Burkburnett TX, US
John Roncz - Elkhart IN, US
International Classification:
B64C003/00
Abstract:
An airfoil has a concave rear top surface, a concave rear bottom surface, and a rounded trailing edge to increase the lift-to-drag ratio of the airfoil at small angles of attack when air is flowing from the trailing edge to the leading edge (reverse flow), while maintaining a high lift-to-drag ratio when air is flowing from the leading edge to the trailing edge (forward flow). The airfoil design results from a performance compromise between forward and reverse airflow. For structural reasons, the thickness of the airfoil in proportion to its chord length may change along the blade radius. Thus, a family of airfoils has been designed that promote low-drag laminar flow with both forward and reverse flow, permit operation of the airfoil with reverse flow over a reasonable range of angles of attack, and achieve high lift with forward flow.