How to Compare NACA 0012, NACA 2412 and NACA 4412 Airfoil Profiles

Hold the thickness still

NACA 0012, 2412 and 4412 share the same thickness family and the same 12% maximum thickness. Read the names with the 4-digit rule. The first digit is maximum camber in percent of chord. The second is the location of that crest in tenths of chord. So:

Because the thickness law is shared, a difference in their polars at the same Reynolds number is a camber difference. That is why these three are a better textbook comparison than three unrelated “12%” sections from different families.

What the polars should show

In the linear range, classical section data and thin-airfoil theory agree on the direction, and roughly on the size:

• 0012 has a zero-lift angle near 0° and a quarter-chord moment near 0.
• 2412 has a zero-lift angle near −2° and a nose-down quarter-chord moment on the order of −0.05, with nose-up taken as positive.
• 4412 has a zero-lift angle near −4° and a nose-down moment on the order of −0.10.

The lift-curve slopes stay close to each other. Camber shifts the curve; it does not invent a new slope. At zero geometric angle, 4412 already carries the most lift, and it pays the largest moment. At a high cruise lift coefficient the cambered sections usually show less drag than the symmetric section, because the symmetric section must fly at a larger angle to reach the same CL. At CL near zero the symmetric section is the low-drag one. Neither statement survives a change of Reynolds number that you did not compute, and neither is an airplane L/D.

How to run the comparison so it stays fair

1. Generate all three from the equations, with the same point count, the same cosine spacing and the same trailing-edge policy. Do not compare a smooth 0012 with a digitized 4412.
2. Use one Reynolds number, one Mach number and one transition setting. Then repeat with a trip.
3. Plot CL(α), CD(CL) and CM(CL) on the same axes.
4. Mark a design CL before you look. Score drag and moment there, then look at CL max and how sharp the break is.
5. If the slopes differ by a lot, suspect the geometry or a non-converged point before you suspect camber.

0012 is the reference, not the default wing. 2412 is a reasonable first wing section at moderate Re and moderate CL. 4412 asks for a tail, or a mission, that can live with the moment. Choose after the matrix, not from the fame of the number.

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Where this sits in the series

In simple words: what this page is for

All three are 12% thick 4-digit sections. The first digit changes the camber: 0%, 2% and 4% at 40% of the chord. That is the whole comparison.

This lesson exists because section decisions fail when geometry, method labels and selection reasons are scattered. How to Compare NACA 0012, NACA 2412 and NACA 4412 Airfoil Profiles helps you keep a clean trail from shape to polar to choice.

Why the topic matters

Engineers lose time when a title sounds clear but the page only sketches the idea. This article expands How to Compare NACA 0012, NACA 2412 and NACA 4412 Airfoil Profiles so you can answer three questions without jargon: what is the idea, when do you use it, and how do you check it in a HENDOI product.

Read the sections above for the core definitions. Use the steps below to move from reading into a real project trail you can share with a teammate.

How to apply this in HENDOI

In practice: create a HENDOI account or log in, open HENFOIL, bring a section in (create, import DAT, or digitize), pass the geometry gate, climb the analysis ladder only as far as the decision needs, then compare and archive. Every calculated number should keep its method label.

When the section choice is ready for the aircraft, continue in HENSYNTH for mission, compliance and trades. Same account. Same plans.

What this page will not claim: a teaching polar or geometry note is not a flight-Re certificate. HENFOIL labels methods so you know what you bought. Tunnel data and professional judgement still sit outside any single software run.

Checklist before you leave this page

• Can you state the idea of How to Compare NACA 0012, NACA 2412 and NACA 4412 Airfoil Profiles in one sentence?
• Do you know which product owns the next action — HENFOIL or HENSYNTH?
• Will every number you keep carry a method label or a stored-run source?
• If you are new here, have you opened Register or Login?

Related reading on this site

• How to Compare Airfoil Geometry Using Camber Lines and Thickness Distributions
• How to Compare Two Airfoils Using Lift, Drag and Stall Characteristics
• All HENDOI blog articles
• HENFOIL product page
• HENSYNTH product page
• Pricing — Student, Professional & Team
• FAQ
• Login · Register now

• Previous: Leading-edge radius and trailing-edge geometry
• Next: How to calculate the lift coefficient
• Index: all HENFOIL airfoil lessons

These pages teach the ideas. They are not wind-tunnel data and not a certification analysis. When a number matters, compute it at a stated Reynolds number, Mach number and transition setting, and keep the method label on the result. In HENFOIL that production polar is a VIC polar — see the analysis ladder and the polar field guide.