Getting started with HENFOIL in one afternoon

Goal

By the end of one focused session you should have a named airfoil in HENFOIL, a geometry gate result, at least one VIC polar, and a PDF or package you can archive.

1. Account and plan

Register on hendoi.com. Choose Student (USD 9), Professional (USD 29) or Team (USD 89). Every plan unlocks the full product; only monthly usage differs. Open HENFOIL from your dashboard after login.

2. Bring a section in

Three common starts:

• Generate a NACA or CST / PARSEC family
• Import Selig–Lednicer DAT
• Digitize: upload an image, pick LE then TE, Auto detect contours, Reconstruct / fit, then Create Airfoil

Named research cards stay metadata until you have a lawful licence to ingest coordinates. HENFOIL will not invent catalog ordinates.

3. Pass the geometry gate

Run Geometry Doctor before any polar. Thickness, camber, LE radius, TE state and curvature must be honest. Fix FAIL / WARNING items first — most “bad polars” are bad geometry.

4. Climb one rung, then VIC

Use thin-airfoil or panel if you only need orientation. For ranking and compare, run VIC viscous polars. Label every number with its method ID. Do not treat a VIC curve as a wind-tunnel or RANS certification polar.

5. Export the trail

Export a datasheet or design-review PDF, and STEP / IGES loft when you need CAD handoff. Keep the design package with coordinates, metrics and provenance.

Honesty reminder

HENFOIL is screening software. It does not replace certification CFD, FEA, flight test or a licensed engineer’s judgement. Use the honesty gates; escalate physics only when the decision needs it.

In simple words: what this page is for

Create an account, pick a plan, import or digitize a section, pass the geometry gate, run a VIC polar and export a datasheet — the practical first path.

This lesson exists because section decisions fail when geometry, method labels and selection reasons are scattered. Getting started with HENFOIL in one afternoon 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 Getting started with HENFOIL in one afternoon 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 Getting started with HENFOIL in one afternoon 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

• Airfoil selection with a documented why-#1
• The HENFOIL analysis ladder: when to escalate
• Create airfoil fields: NACA, analytic and CST — what each digit means
• Digitize field-by-field: every control, why fill it, what you get
• All HENDOI blog articles
• HENFOIL product page
• HENSYNTH product page
• Pricing — Student, Professional & Team
• FAQ
• Login · Register now