How-to
HENSYNTH Reports: analyze PDF and stored runs
How to download the latest HENSYNTH analyze PDF, list stored runs, and mail a conceptual screening summary from the Reports page.
HENFOIL
Aerospace design blog — airfoil lessons & notes
An airfoil knowledge base for HENFOIL, in reading order: geometry and forces, analysis and design, boundary layers, theory and computation, then named families, wind-tunnel method, geometry repair, optimization, and the workflows that keep a polar traceable. Product field guides sit after the lessons. These are teaching notes, not certification reports.
220 articles · 38 topics
Product
HENFOIL and HENSYNTH product notes: what each workspace adds, who it is for, and what it does not claim.
How-to
Field guides for HENFOIL features and HENSYNTH loops — geometry, requirements, synthesis, Mission, Performance, Trades, Optimize and Reports.
Airfoil fundamentals
Chord, camber, thickness, NACA names, angle of attack, and how shape creates lift.
Airfoil analysis
Polars, Reynolds and Mach number, L/D, drag, pitching moment, and how to compare sections.
Airfoil design
Choosing, drawing, and optimizing a section for a UAV or another real mission.
Advanced aerodynamics
Boundary layers, stall types, roughness, icing, pressure plots, and airfoil noise.
Airfoil applications
Wind turbines, electric aircraft, CFD, and the step from a 2D section to a 3D wing.
Airfoil geometry
Coordinates, chord, camber, thickness distribution, leading-edge radius and named NACA profiles.
Lift and drag
How to calculate CL and CD, read the lift slope, zero-lift angle, CLmax and the best angle.
Analysis methods
Lift curves, low Reynolds number, Cp plots, potential flow, convergence and compressibility.
Design and modification
Editing a section, parameterization, design variables, optimizers and a comparison matrix.
Applications and validation
HALE and racing aircraft, altitude, gliders, wind-tunnel tests and checking a computation.
Boundary layers
Thickness, laminar bubbles, adverse gradients, transition, roughness and skin friction versus pressure drag.
Stall and flow control
Stall type, post-stall polars, slats, flaps, vortex generators and dynamic stall.
Coordinates and numerics
Bad points, interpolation, resampling, panel methods, resolution and why two codes disagree.
Operating conditions
Reynolds-number sweeps, temperature, yaw, critical Mach, shocks and off-design flight.
Design workflows
Databases, CAD sketches, performance maps, high-lift selection and the step from a polar to a wing.
Geometry models
NACA camber lines, 5-digit and 6-series sections, coordinate equations, CST and Bézier curves.
Aerodynamic theory
Thin-airfoil lift, the lift slope, the Kutta condition, circulation and the aerodynamic center.
Computational methods
Panel methods, viscous coupling, XFOIL settings, failed polars, CFD meshes and RANS.
Stability and integration
Pitching moment and stability, tailplanes, flaps, control surfaces and finite-wing effects.
Specialized applications
Solar UAVs, human-powered aircraft, wind-turbine stations, small electrics and performance maps.
Airfoil families
Clark Y, NACA 23012 and 4415, symmetric thicknesses, and Eppler and Selig low-Reynolds-number sections.
Flow phenomena
Pressure recovery, leading-edge suction, camber and zero lift, compressibility corrections and three-dimensional flow.
Wind-tunnel testing
Balances and wakes, data reduction, uncertainty, oil flow, pressure taps and a validation workflow.
Geometry processing
Self-intersections, area and ordering, transforms, DAT to DXF, and a quality check before the loft.
Optimization and workflows
Robust and multi-point design, surrogates, machine learning, morphing sections and an automated analysis loop.
Geometry parameters
Leading-edge radius, thickness ratio, trailing-edge thickness, reflex camber, and comparing two sections.
Performance reading
Best lift-to-drag angle, glide ratio, reading lift with drag and moment, hysteresis, and polar trade-offs.
Analysis workflows
Reynolds-number sweeps, consistent databases, sensitivity, outliers, solver benchmarks, and reproducible reports.
Aircraft and propulsion
Trainers, flying-wing UAVs, propeller blades, electric VTOL, high-altitude flight, and slow mapping aircraft.
Research methods
Uncertainty, Bayesian search, physics-informed models, flow control, bio-inspired sections, and digital twins.
How-to
HENSYNTH Analysis: Mission, Performance, Trades and Optimize
After Requirements and Synthesize, open HENSYNTH Mission, Performance, Trades and Optimize for stored predictions, mission-opt grids, sweeps and conceptual range search.
How-to
HENSYNTH workflow: dashboard to technical report
End-to-end HENSYNTH help path: dashboard project, Aircraft geometry, Requirements, Run screening, compliance, Synthesize, candidate apply, zip report, HEN-AI.
How-to
HENSYNTH candidate cards, Use this aircraft, and CAD
Read synthesis candidate cards, apply geometry with Use this aircraft, open the Aircraft page and CAD continuity after a style search — screening handoff, not auto-certification.
How-to
HENSYNTH download and share technical reports
Zip reports from the requirements run and candidate cards: PDF, PNG figures, stored metrics, download icon, and email share with CC/BCC limits.
How-to
HENSYNTH compliance matrix: PASS, FAIL, and margin
The compliance table compares each mission requirement to predicted screening values — target, predicted, margin, status chip, and confidence — on Requirements and in reports.
How-to
HENSYNTH Synthesize page and four candidate styles
Run Synthesize candidates after feasibility: minimum MTOW, maximum endurance, minimum energy, and balanced design — style searches with wing loading, AR, and battery fraction.
How-to
HENSYNTH requirements run report: metrics and help modals
After Run screening, the Requirements run report lists MTOW, range, endurance, stall, field lengths, climb, L/D max, static margin, compliance rows, and ? modals with formulas.
How-to
HENSYNTH Requirements page: mission targets and caps
Enter range, endurance, cruise, field lengths, payload, span cap, and battery limits on the HENSYNTH Requirements page — with feasibility check and handoff to synthesis.
How-to
HENSYNTH Geometry page: wing, fuselage, and tails
How to use the Aircraft page in HENSYNTH: planform inputs, fuselage dimensions, tail arms, propulsion, 3D view, section plots, and save-before-run discipline.
How-to
Import DAT and CAD profiles: name, text, inspect, then commit
How to fill Import — airfoil name, Selig/Lednicer text, Inspect vs Import, normalize — and what conditioning results mean before Geometry Doctor.
How-to
Team seats and access grants: invite, share quotas, view/edit/download/delete
How Team plan seats work — own logins, shared monthly meters, admin visibility, ACL grants and email notices when access changes.
How-to
Geometry Doctor results: metrics, scores and PASS / WARNING / FAIL
What t/c, camber, LE radius, TE state, CST residual, polar readiness scores mean — and why you should fix FAIL before climbing the analysis ladder.
How-to
Optimize fields: objective, algorithm, constraints and operating points
What every Optimization control means — max L/D objectives, NACA/CST/Bayesian search, t/c and Cm limits, multi-point Re/Mach/CL weights — and what results to trust.
How-to
Selection & compare fields: filters, cruise CL, weights and why-#1
How to fill geometry filters, Re, cruise CL and ranking inputs — and what scored candidates, why lists and confidence mean.
How-to
Create airfoil fields: NACA, analytic and CST — what each digit means
Kind, M/P/T, 5-digit design CL, 6-series family, Joukowski μ, CST — purpose of every Create field and the coordinates and reports you get.
How-to
VIC polar fields: what to fill, why it matters, what the sweep returns
Sweep type, Re, Mach, Ncrit, trip stations, roughness, AoA range — purpose of each Polars field and the CL/CD/Cm results you should expect.
How-to
Digitize field-by-field: every control, why fill it, what you get
Brightness, threshold, LE/TE, detect mode, TE/fit/panel options — purpose of each Digitize field and the results you should expect before Create Airfoil.