NACA 4415 Airfoil: Understanding Camber, Thickness and Aerodynamic Performance

Two digits that do different jobs

NACA 4415 is a 4-digit section, so the naming rule is enough. Maximum camber is 4% of chord. The crest is at 40% chord. Maximum thickness is 15%. Against NACA 2412, the camber is doubled and the section is thicker. Against NACA 4412, only the thickness changed. Those are the only two comparisons that isolate one variable.

Camber first

Doubling camber from the 24 family to the 44 family roughly doubles the zero-lift shift and the nose-down quarter-chord moment. A 44-series section in classical data sits near a zero-lift angle of about −4°, and it already carries substantial lift at zero geometric angle. That is useful when the airplane must fly at a high lift coefficient without a large fuselage angle. It is expensive when the tail must trim the moment for the whole flight, and it is the wrong direction for a fast airplane whose cruise lift coefficient is low. The lift-curve slope does not double. Camber shifts the curve.

Thickness second

Generate 2412, 4412 and 4415 from the same equations, the same point count and the same trailing-edge rule. Run them at one Reynolds number, clean and tripped. Read drag and moment at your design lift coefficient, then read the stall. 4415 wins when you needed both the higher camber and the deeper spar. It does not win merely because 4415 is a larger number than 2412.

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Where this sits in the series

In simple words: what this page is for

NACA 4415 is 4% camber at 40% chord and 15% thick. It carries more design lift than a 2412 and more spar depth than a 4412. Both of those choices have a drag and a moment attached.

This lesson exists because section decisions fail when geometry, method labels and selection reasons are scattered. NACA 4415 Airfoil: Understanding Camber, Thickness and Aerodynamic Performance 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 NACA 4415 Airfoil: Understanding Camber, Thickness and Aerodynamic Performance 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 NACA 4415 Airfoil: Understanding Camber, Thickness and Aerodynamic Performance 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 Parameterization Methods: NACA Equations, CST and Spline-Based Geometry
• How to Compare NACA 0012, NACA 2412 and NACA 4412 Airfoil Profiles
• NACA 0015 vs NACA 0018: Comparing Symmetric Airfoil Profiles
• NACA 23012 Airfoil: Design Features, Lift Characteristics and Applications
• All HENDOI blog articles
• HENFOIL product page
• HENSYNTH product page
• Pricing — Student, Professional & Team
• FAQ
• Login · Register now

• Previous: NACA 23012
• Next: NACA 0015 vs NACA 0018
• 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.