Airfoil Sources

Deutsch: Profilquellen

Airfoil sources

Summary of published terms of use, not legal advice. Quotes checked against the live pages on 2026-09-29.

Overview

Source	Terms (summary)	Bundled	Use in Wingdesigner
NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics) 4- and 5-digit equations, NACA Report 824 (Abbott, von Doenhoff, Stivers, 1945)	Published equations. The app computes the coordinates and copies no coordinate file.	Generated in the browser	17 presets in Library, NACA generator, wizard
NACA report tables: Clark Y (NACA Report No. 502), USA 35B (Report No. 233), NACA M-6 (Report No. 221), NACA 8-H-12 (Technical Note 1998)	Works of the United States Government. Public domain in the United States; status outside the United States not established. Conditions of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration): name NASA as the source, imply no endorsement, claim no copyright.	Yes, 4 files	Library
RAF 34: Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) table in NACA Report No. 286 (first published April 1928)	United States copyright term expired; status outside the United States not established. NASA conditions as in the row above; name the RAE as the origin of the data.	Yes, 1 file	Library
S9104 (Michael Selig, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)	Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): use, change and redistribution with attribution.	Yes, 1 file	Library
aerodesign.de, HS airfoils (Hartmut Siegmann)	Private, club, small-business and scientific use with name and source. Large series and industrial use need a written agreement. Redistribution by third parties is partly restricted.	No	Link in the app; download there, then upload
aerodesign.de, airfoils of other designers	Use needs the permission of each original author.	No	Via the aerodesign.de link (HS catalog page); download there, then upload
mh-aerotools.de, MH airfoils (Martin Hepperle)	Personal use. Publications cite the source. A recompilation must not be sold above production cost.	No	Link in the app; download there, then upload
UIUC (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign) Airfoil Coordinates Database	No license stated for the coordinate files. The terms of each designer apply.	No	Link in the app; download there, then upload
Airfoils in an XFLR5 file	An XFLR5 project (.xfl; XFLR5 is a program for the analysis of airfoils and wings) holds airfoil coordinates without author or license; an XFLR5 file in XML (Extensible Markup Language) format holds airfoil names only. The terms of the designer of each airfoil apply. The app does not check them. Whoever imports the file is responsible for the rights to the airfoils in it.	No	Open (XFLR5 import); airfoils of an .xfl project are stored with source.kind xflr5, the others keep their own source

• Bundled coordinate files: 6, in public/airfoils/ (Bundled files).
• NACA preset list and generator rules: User Guide, sections Library and NACA generator.
• Import of XFLR5 files and the airfoil sources of the import dialog: File Formats, section XFLR5 import; dialog: User Guide, section Import from XFLR5.

Links in the app

Tab Airfoils, box More airfoils (external, not bundled):

Link text	Target
aerodesign.de - Hartmut Siegmann	https://aerodesign.de/profile/profile_hs.htm
MH-AeroTools - Martin Hepperle	https://www.mh-aerotools.de/airfoils/
UIUC Airfoil Coordinates Database	https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/coord_database.html

Files on the external sites

Site	File type	Loads in Wingdesigner
aerodesign.de	Selig .dat, coordinates as fractions of the chord	Yes
aerodesign.de	"Original" .txt tables, columns X Yo Yu in percent of chord, some with decimal commas (e.g. HS 3,4/12,0)	Yes
aerodesign.de	.txt tables with 1 surface of a symmetric airfoil, columns x y in percent of chord: naca0009.txt, naca63a008.txt, naca64a010.txt	No. The parser needs an upper and a lower surface.
aerodesign.de	clarky.txt: 2 coordinate tables (1928 and 1927 data) in 1 file	No. Both tables are read as 1 outline, which crosses itself. Delete the 1927 table in a text editor; the 1928 table then loads.
aerodesign.de	"Original" coordinates of HS-0003 and HS-0004 as JPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) images	No (image). The .dat file of the same airfoil loads.
mh-aerotools.de	HTML (HyperText Markup Language) page per airfoil, e.g. mh45koo.htm. 8 of 56 tables are in percent of chord.	Yes: save the page as .htm, then upload it
mh-aerotools.de	XML file per airfoil, e.g. geo_xml/mh45_geo.xml. 55 of 56 airfoils; none for MH 57.	Yes
UIUC	Selig .dat	Yes. Exceptions: 20 of 1,665 files (Parser test).

• The column "Loads in Wingdesigner" holds for the default Profile parametrization, Centripetal (recommended). Chord length and Uniform reject more files (Parser test).
• If the largest x is above 5 and at most 110, all coordinates are divided by 100. The preview shows the warning Coordinates look like percent of chord and were divided by 100.

• Formats and checks: File Formats.

Loading a file

1. Download the coordinate file from the site.
2. Airfoils > Upload: drop the file on the drop zone or use Choose files.
3. Check the preview and the Source / attribution field, then click Add to project.

Above 200 airfoils the Checks tab shows a warning Large project: …. It lists N airfoils (warning above 200) with any other size above its threshold and names the expected time and browser memory of each change. When the count rises above 200, the short message after Add to project also shows this warning. A project holds at most 10,000 airfoils. At 10,000, Upload opens no preview and shows The project holds 10,000 airfoils, the limit; "Remove unused" frees places. An airfoil that takes the points of all project airfoils above 1,000,000 is refused with With this airfoil the project airfoils hold N points; the limit is 1,000,000. "Remove unused" frees points.

Parser test

• Date: 2026-09-30, code of commit 9faa12b with the trailing-edge tolerance of the crossing test (TE_CROSS_TOLERANCE in src/airfoil/sanity.js). The test files are not in the repository (license).
• Stage 1: import and sanity checks (importAirfoilText in src/airfoil/sanity.js).
• Stage 2: preview curve check (profileProblem in src/geom/profile.js) with each of the 3 settings of Settings > Profile parametrization. The NURBS (non-uniform rational B-spline) curve through the points must not cross itself; crossing loops with a mean width (area / bounding-box diagonal) up to 5e-4 of the chord (0.05 %) are ignored. Neither surface of the curve may run back in x by more than 1e-4 of the chord (0.01 %).
• The preview and the wing build use the parametrization of the project. A file can be added when it passes stages 1 and 2 with that parametrization.

Test set	Files	Pass stage 1	Pass stages 1 and 2 with Centripetal (recommended) (default)	Pass stages 1 and 2 with Chord length	Pass stages 1 and 2 with Uniform
mh-aerotools.de: HTML pages (*koo.htm)	56	56	56	56	53
mh-aerotools.de: XML files (geo_xml/*_geo.xml)	55	55	55	55	52
aerodesign.de: all files in /profile/data/ (154 .dat, 34 .txt)	188	184	184	180	175
aerodesign.de: HS files (hs*.dat, hs*.txt; part of the row above)	43	43	43	43	42
UIUC: all .dat files in coord_seligFmt.zip (last updated 2026-02-23)	1,665	1,650	1,645	1,637	1,581
UIUC: MH series (mh*.dat, part of the row above)	52	51	51	51	48

Rejected files with Centripetal (recommended):

Files	Set	Error message
naca0009.txt, naca63a008.txt, naca64a010.txt	aerodesign.de	The last point lies at 0.0 % chord, not at the trailing edge; … and Upper or lower surface has fewer than 3 points; the point order is probably not Selig or Lednicer.
clarky.txt	aerodesign.de	The last point lies at 0.0 % chord, not at the trailing edge; … and The outline crosses itself (3 crossing(s)). Upper and lower surfaces also touch at x = 0.0 % chord, and the trailing edge is crossed (gap -3.380 % chord).
mh150.dat	UIUC	The outline crosses itself (1 crossing(s)). Upper and lower surfaces touch at x = 98.6 % chord.
dsma523a.dat, e340.dat, e378.dat, fx38153.dat, fx62k131.dat, fx63147.dat, fx72150b.dat, fx72ls160.dat	UIUC	The outline crosses itself (1 crossing(s)). (e378.dat: 2), away from the trailing edge. 4 of them also have the upper surface below the lower surface.
ste87151.dat, ste87391.dat, stf86361.dat	UIUC	Trailing edge is crossed (gap -0.050 % chord). (-0.086 % and -0.081 %)
naca1.dat	UIUC	The last point lies at 0.0 % chord, not at the trailing edge; … and Upper or lower surface has fewer than 3 points; …
ua79sfm.dat	UIUC	The last point lies at 78.1 % chord, not at the trailing edge; …
30p-30n.dat	UIUC	The last point lies at 8.6 % chord, not at the trailing edge; … and The upper surface runs back in x at 203 points; the limit is 50.
goe451.dat	UIUC	Stage 2: The NURBS curve through the points crosses itself near x = 2.6 % chord; the file has too few points there. …
30p-30n-main.dat, 30p-30n-slat.dat, cap21c.dat, rc0864c.dat	UIUC	Stage 2: The surface runs back in x by … % chord near x = … % chord; … (0.046 %, 15.924 %, 0.113 %, 0.040 % chord)

Stage 2 with Chord length rejects 17 files (5 crossings, 12 x reversals). Stage 2 with Uniform rejects 84 files (2 crossings, 82 x reversals).

Trailing-edge pattern:

• Condition: closed trailing edge with the first point at x = 1.00000 and the last point at x = 1.00001, both at y = 0. 22 UIUC files have it.
• In 19 of them the lower surface ends above y = 0, so the first and the last segment cross: by 2.7e-7 of the chord in sd8000.dat. Examples: s3021.dat, sd7003.dat, sd7062.dat, sd7080.dat, sd8000.dat.
• The crossing test ignores a crossing of the first and the last segment when their free ends lie at most 1e-4 of the chord apart (0.01 %, TE_CROSS_TOLERANCE, the limit of Trailing edge is crossed). The 19 files pass stages 1 and 2 with all 3 parametrizations.

Attribution

The airfoil preview (Upload, pasted text, NACA generator, Library) has a Source / attribution field.

• Uploaded file, pasted text, NACA airfoil: the app pre-fills the field from the airfoil name. NACA names give an empty field.
• Airfoil of an XFLR5 project (.xfl): the import stores an attribution from the airfoil name with the same rule. View in the import dialog shows the field Source / attribution read-only.
• Bundled library file: the app pre-fills source.author from index.json.
• The author, the license identifier and the source addresses of a library file are data: they read the same in the English and the German interface, as does NOTICE.md. The category and the use text of each library entry are shown in the language of the interface.

Input	Airfoil name
XML file	<name> element. If empty or missing: file name without extension.
HTML page	<title> element. If empty or missing: first non-numeric line before the first coordinate row. If none: file name without extension.
Selig, Lednicer, table	First non-numeric line before the first coordinate row. If none: file name without extension.
Pasted text without a name line	pasted in the English interface, Eingefügtes Profil in the German interface

Example: HS-1.dat without a name line gets the name HS-1 and the HS pre-fill.

Airfoil name	Example names	Pre-filled text
HS, then a space or -	HS-1, HS 606, HS 3,4/12,0	Hartmut Siegmann, www.aerodesign.de
MH, then an optional space or -, then a digit	MH 45, MH45, MH 45 Coordinates	Martin Hepperle, www.mh-aerotools.de
Any other name	Goettingen 795, concord, HS3.0/8.0	empty

Matching ignores letter case and leading spaces.

Stored source object

Each airfoil in the project carries a source object:

Origin	Fields of source
NACA generator or Library preset	kind: "naca", license, url (NACA Report 824 at ntrs.nasa.gov), code, closedTE; attribution if the field is not empty
Wizard	kind: "naca", license, url, code, closedTE
Sample wing "Sport wing 1500" (German interface: "Sportflügel 1500"; loaded when local storage holds no valid saved project)	kind: "naca", note
Bundled library file	kind: "library", id, attribution (pre-filled with source.author from index.json), license, url, terms
File upload	kind: "upload", file (file name), attribution (empty string if no text)
Pasted text	kind: "upload"; attribution if the field is not empty
Airfoil of an XFLR5 project (.xfl), imported with Open	kind: "xflr5", file (name of the .xfl file), note (Airfoil "<name>" from XFLR5 plane "<plane>"; base shape without flap deflection., in the interface language at the time of the import), attribution only when the name rule gives one

In the XFLR5 import, an uploaded .dat file, a library airfoil, a NACA section and an airfoil of the current project keep their own source.

Place	Attribution included
Project airfoil list (tab Airfoils)	Yes, after the point count. NACA airfoils without attribution show NACA equations (German interface: NACA-Gleichungen); airfoils of an XFLR5 project without attribution show XFLR5: <file>.
Project file, JSON (JavaScript Object Notation): Save or Export > Project JSON	Yes
Autosave in browser local storage (key wingdesigner.project.v1)	Yes
.dat download of a project airfoil	No: name line and points only
STEP (Standard for the Exchange of Product model data), STL (stereolithography), 3MF (3D Manufacturing Format)	No

The app sends no airfoil data to a server. Its only network requests for airfoils load airfoils/index.json and bundled library files from the app's own address.

Limitations

• The pre-fill reads the airfoil name only. A file from aerodesign.de or mh-aerotools.de with another name gets an empty field. Measured counts:
  • MH: 1 of 55 XML files (mh55_geo.xml, name concord), 0 of 56 HTML pages.
  • aerodesign.de: 0 of 43 HS files (hs*.dat, hs*.txt).
• File upload and library entry: clearing a pre-filled Source / attribution field keeps the pre-filled text. Type other text to replace it.
• Pasted text: clearing the field stores no attribution.
• After Add to project, the attribution is read-only in the app. View shows it in a disabled field. Change it in the project JSON file.
• For an airfoil without a stored attribution, View shows the pre-fill derived from the name (HS/MH rule). This text is not stored.
• Add to project keeps the existing entry and its source when a project airfoil has the same name and identical points, or is a generated NACA section with the same code and closedTE (any name). The new Source / attribution text is discarded. The notice then reads The project already holds this airfoil as "<name>". instead of Added airfoil "<name>". To change the attribution: remove the airfoil (× is available only while no section uses it) and add it again, or edit the project JSON file.
• Airfoils imported from an XFLR5 file: the file states no author or license, and the app does not check the rights to the coordinates. An airfoil gets an attribution only when its name starts with HS or MH as in the table above. Whoever imports the file is responsible for the rights to the airfoils in it and for the attribution that their terms require. After the import the attribution is read-only in the app; change it in the project JSON file.
• Exported STEP, STL, 3MF and .dat files carry no attribution. The HS terms require name and source with each use. CC BY 4.0 (S9104) requires attribution when the material is shared; whoever shares such a file made with S9104 adds the attribution text from public/airfoils/NOTICE.md.

aerodesign.de (Hartmut Siegmann)

Item	Value
Operator	Hartmut Siegmann, Zorneding, Germany
HS catalog	https://aerodesign.de/profile/profile_hs.htm: 35 HS airfoils for planks, swept flying wings and conventional models
Other catalogs	Airfoils of other designers, with source references
Contact for permissions	By post, address on https://aerodesign.de/kontakt/kontakt_m.htm. E-mail requests are not answered (quote below).

Contact page, https://aerodesign.de/kontakt/kontakt_m.htm:

Bei den Modell- und Profildatenbanken könnt ihr meine Profile (HS) und Konstruktionen (æ) für private und kleingewerbliche Zwecke genehmigungsfrei verwenden, aber nur unter Angabe meines Namens und Link auf aerodesign.de. Die Quellenangabe mit meinem Namen und Link ist die Grundlage für die genehmigungsfreie Nutzung. Wer Daten oder Inhalte ohne Quellenangabe oder gewerblich nutzen möchte, kann sich gerne schriftlich an mich wenden.

Für andere Konstrukteure und Profilentwickler gilt diese Regelung selbstverständlich nicht. Deren Werke sind in meinen Datenbanken zusammengefasst und zum Teil erläutert. Das heißt in dem Fall müsst ihr euch die Nutzung von dem betreffenden Urheber genehmigen lassen.

Translation: In the model and airfoil databases, my airfoils (HS) and designs (æ) may be used without permission for private and small-business purposes. This applies only with my name and a link to aerodesign.de. The source reference with my name and link is the basis for use without permission. Anyone who wants to use data or content without a source reference or commercially may write to me.

Translation: This rule does not apply to other designers and airfoil developers. Their works are collected and partly explained in my databases. In that case, you need permission for the use from the respective author.

Die Lebens- und Arbeitszeit eines Menschen ist leider begrenzt, daher beantworte ich derzeit keine Anfragen per E-Mail.

Translation: A person's lifetime and working time are limited, so I currently do not answer requests by e-mail.

HS catalog page, https://aerodesign.de/profile/profile_hs.htm:

Meine Profile dürfen privat, im Vereinsrahmen, kleingewerblich und selbstverständlich wissenschaftlich unter Angabe meines Namens und der Quelle »www.aerodesign.de« genehmigungsfrei genutzt werden. Großserien oder industrielle Anwendungen erfordern eine schriftliche Nutzungsvereinbarung. Das Recht auf Weiterverbreitung durch Dritte ist aufgrund von Verlagsrechten zum Teil eingeschränkt, also solltet ihr aus Eigeninteresse Inhalte dieser Seite nicht kopieren, sondern nur auszugsweise zitieren.

Translation: My airfoils may be used without permission privately, in clubs, by small businesses and for science, with my name and the source "www.aerodesign.de". Large series or industrial applications require a written usage agreement. The right of third parties to redistribute is partly restricted by publishing rights. In your own interest, do not copy content of this page; quote excerpts only.

Reasons the HS airfoils are not bundled:

• Redistribution by third parties is partly restricted by publishing rights.
• The catalog page asks not to copy its content and to quote excerpts only.
• npm run airfoils:check rejects index entries whose source.url or source.terms host is aerodesign.de.

mh-aerotools.de (Martin Hepperle)

Item	Value
Operator	Martin Hepperle
Airfoil index	https://www.mh-aerotools.de/airfoils/: 56 MH airfoils
Flying wings (low pitching moment)	MH 44, MH 45, MH 46, MH 49, MH 60, MH 61, MH 62, MH 64
Gliders	MH 30, MH 32, MH 42, MH 43
Pylon racers	13 airfoils from MH 16 to MH 29 (glow engine); MH 30 to MH 34, MH 43 (electric)
Contact for permissions	E-mail link on each airfoil page

Footer of every airfoil page, e.g. https://www.mh-aerotools.de/airfoils/mh45koo.htm:

© 1996-2018 Martin Hepperle
You may use the data given in this document for your personal use. If you use this document for a publication, you have to cite the source. A publication of a recompilation of the given material is not allowed, if the resulting product is sold for more than the production costs.

Reasons the MH airfoils are not bundled:

• The terms grant personal use. They contain no grant for public redistribution.
• The repository is public under the MIT License (named after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology). This license allows anyone to sell copies. The last sentence of the terms excludes a sale above production cost.
• npm run airfoils:check rejects index entries whose source.url or source.terms host is mh-aerotools.de.

UIUC Airfoil Coordinates Database

Item	Value
Maintainer	UIUC Applied Aerodynamics Group (Michael Selig)
Coordinates page	https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/ads/coord_database.html
Content	Approximately 1,650 airfoils (Version 2.0) of many designers, Selig .dat. Count as stated on the coordinates page; the note in the app says "About 1,600" (German interface: "Etwa 1.600").
License on the coordinates page	None. The footer carries only © 1994 - 2026 UIUC Applied Aerodynamics Group.
GNU General Public License (GPL)	The low-speed airfoil test page (wind-tunnel performance data) links a GPL text for the "airfoil/aircraft data". The coordinates page does not mention the GPL. Whether the GPL covers the coordinate files: not stated.
Designers' terms	Apply to their files, e.g. the MH terms above.

Bundled files

Source, legal basis with quotes, conditions and attribution text per file: NOTICE.md. Category and use per file: User Guide, section Library.

Airfoil	File	Source table	License identifier	Basis (from NOTICE.md)
Clark Y	clark-y.dat	NACA Report No. 502, Table I (1934); same ordinates in NACA Report No. 244 (September 1926)	public-domain	Work of the United States Government; United States copyright term expired
NACA 8-H-12	naca-8h12.dat	NACA Technical Note 1998, Table I (December 1949)	public-domain	Work of the United States Government
NACA M-6	naca-m6.dat	NACA Report No. 221, Table XXIX (1926)	public-domain	Work of the United States Government; United States copyright term expired
RAF 34	raf-34.dat	RAE table in NACA Report No. 286, Reference No. 639 (April 1928)	public-domain	United States copyright term expired; table reprinted in a work of the United States Government
S9104	s9104.dat	File of the designer, https://m-selig.ae.illinois.edu/uiuc_lsat/s9104/s9104.html	CC-BY-4.0	CC BY 4.0 license from the designer
USA 35B	usa-35b.dat	NACA Report No. 233, Table XXXVI (1927)	public-domain	Work of the United States Government; United States copyright term expired

• Status outside the United States of the 5 public-domain files: not established.
• source.url of the 5 public-domain files points to the record on the NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS).
• RAF 34: the scan of the table is a 1-bit image. 7 values are uncertain, by up to 0.20 % of chord (lower surface at 60 % of chord). NOTICE.md lists the 7 values and their other possible readings.
• Clark Y and USA 35B keep the published base line: the leading edge lies 3.50 % and 2.76 % of chord above the x axis. The preview shows the warning The line from the leading edge to the trailing edge is inclined by -1.97 degrees; … (USA 35B: -1.51).
• No bundled file is a copy of a file from the UIUC Airfoil Coordinates Database.
• Test on 2026-09-29: all 6 files pass stages 1 and 2 of the Parser test with each of the 3 settings of Profile parametrization.

Not bundled (owner decisions with reasons in RECORD.md):

Data	License	Reason
JX library	Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)	Share-alike: not among the 8 accepted license identifiers (Adding a bundled airfoil)
Mark Drela, DAE and HT sections	GPL 2.0 or later	Copyleft: not among the 8 accepted license identifiers
PROFOIL test sections	MIT License	Generic designs without polars (lift and drag data) or flight history

Adding a bundled airfoil

Requirements for a file in public/airfoils/:

Rule	Checked by npm run airfoils:check
airfoils in public/airfoils/index.json is an array.	Yes
Each entry has an id. No 2 entries share an id.	Yes
name, file, category present and not empty	Yes
source.author, source.license, source.url, source.terms present and not empty	Yes
source.license is one of 8 identifiers: public-domain, CC0-1.0, Unlicense, CC-BY-4.0, CC-BY-3.0, MIT, BSD-2-Clause, BSD-3-Clause	Yes
source.url and source.terms are URLs (Uniform Resource Locators). Their host, without a leading www., is not aerodesign.de, mh-aerotools.de or a subdomain of them. Message otherwise: <host> grants personal use only.	Yes
public/airfoils/NOTICE.md exists (index with at least 1 entry) and contains the entry's name.	Yes
The file exists at public/airfoils/<file>.	Yes
The file passes import and the sanity checks with no error. Warnings are allowed.	Yes
The NURBS interpolation through the points succeeds. The curve does not cross itself (loops with a mean width, area / bounding-box diagonal, up to 5e-4 of the chord are ignored) and does not run back in x by more than 1e-4 of the chord. Checked in the app's Preview with the project's Profile parametrization.	No
Every file under public/airfoils/, subfolders included, except public/airfoils/index.json and public/airfoils/NOTICE.md, has an entry.	Yes
The license identifier matches the terms at source.terms.	No (manual review)
use (optional): text shown in Library and matched by Filter library	No

• Not accepted: personal-use, non-commercial, no-derivatives, share-alike and ask-first terms, and individual permissions.
• CC: Creative Commons. BSD: Berkeley Software Distribution.

{
  "airfoils": [
    {
      "id": "example-12",
      "name": "Example 12",
      "file": "example12.dat",
      "category": "Cambered",
      "use": "Sport wings",
      "source": { "author": "Designer name", "license": "CC0-1.0", "url": "https://example.org/airfoils", "terms": "https://example.org/license" }
    }
  ]
}

• List "Example 12" with its source and license in public/airfoils/NOTICE.md.
• Script: scripts/check-airfoils.mjs. It also generates the 17 NACA presets and runs the sanity checks on each.
• Output with the 6 bundled files: 6 bundled airfoils (free licenses only) and 17 NACA presets pass.
• On failure it prints one line per problem and exits with code 1.
• CI (continuous integration): workflow ci.yml, job "Lint, unit tests, coverage", step "Bundled airfoil library".
• In the app, a bundled entry appears in Library with category, use, author and license. Preview loads the file from airfoils/<file>.