TDM Models
Electric Power R/C Aircraft Plans and Software

Airfoil design software for aircraft designers and/or modelers!
The Airfoil Design Workshop makes designing the airfoil aspect
of your aircraft project easy, fast and simple!

New Version 5.0
Reads and writes .DAT files directly

Software Overview

The Airfoil Design Workshop is a unique piece of software designed for aircraft designers and/or modelers who like to design and create their own aircraft plans. The software allows users to graphically display common .DAT format airfoil data files available from airfoil databases on the web. The airfoil shapes can be modified interactively within the program and saved as new airfoil data files. Scaled airfoils can be exported as DXF files for import into popular CAD programs. Airfoil data files can be analyzed with a link to the stand-alone program XFOIL

Software Features

  • Reads, Writes and graphically displays standard airfoil .DAT files. Download airfoil files on-the-fly and display in AFD with a convenient Get from Web button. Choose from 100's of freely available airfoil data files.
  • View and compare different airfoils graphically by overlaying multiple airfoils over each other with the click of a button.
  • Modify airfoil shapes by changing the thickness of the top and bottom curves of the airfoil independently.
  • Save modified airfoils to standard .DAT format
  • Generate multiple scaled airfoil widths at one time, automatically for tapered wing designs. Save generated airfoil shapes in one single DXF file.
  • Export scaled airfoils to DXF files for import into all popular CAD programs.
  • Output scaled airfoil coordinates to an ASCII text file if you need to plot by hand or import into another program.
  • Blend two different airfoils into a new hybrid airfoil with a button that passes the airfoil data to XFOIL
  • Analyze any airfoil with a button that passes the data to XFOIL
  • Output scaled airfoil coordinates to an ASCII text file if you need to plot by hand or import into another program.
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Airfoil Blending with XFOIL

Blending Airfoils with Xfoil

Airfoil Design Workshop lets you blend or merge two different airfoils to create a new hybrid airfoil. This process is performed by XFOIL. Airfoil Design Workshop passes the data to XFOIL. XFOIL does the blending and returns the blended airfoil. To perform this operation simply select the first airfoil and click the Display 1st Airfoil button. Select the second airfoil and click the Overlay 2nd Airfoil button. Next click the Blend 1st and 2nd Airfoil button and specify the desired blending percent (%) and specify a new airfoil name. Finally click the Blend in XFOIL button and the parameters are passed to XFOIL for processing. Within seconds the new airfoil shape is computed and ready to display using the Show Blended button.

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XFOIL Export and Analysis

XFOIL is a stand-alone command-line program for the design and analysis of subsonic isolated airfoils. XFOIL was developed by Mark Drela of MIT. A copy of XFOIL version 6.94 is included with AFD.

Airfoil Design Workshop passes data to XFOIL for generating pressure flow diagrams based on min/max attack angles and user supplied Reynolds numbers. Diagrams are compiled and converted to a Postscript (.PS) document for viewing and printing.

NOTE: Adobe Acrobat, not the Reader can read and display postscript files directly. If you do not have a full version of Acrobat you can use the free postscript viewer and converter Ghostscript to view the XFoil™© postscript graphic files.

To display and analyze airfoils in XFOIL just click the Save/Analyze button, choose .DAT as the file format. Save the file then click the Analyze in XFOIL button. The airfoil data will be transferred to XFOIL and displayed for your analysis.

Sample XFOIL analysis plots from Airfoil Design Workshop

Tapered Wing Design

One of the most convenient features of the Airfoil Design Workshop is its ability to generate intermediate airfoil shapes based on a specified root and tip airfoil widths. The Airfoil Design Workshop will calculate the intermediate rib chord widths between the root and tip. Optionally save generated airfoils to a single DXF file.

AFD Interface

Tapered Wing Design Parameters

  • Root Rib Airfoil - The airfoil to use at the root position.
  • Chord Width At Root - The width of the airfoil at the wing root
  • Chord Width At Tip - The width of the airfoil at the wing tip
    The tip airfoil may be the same width as the root foil or smaller.
  • Leading Edge Sweep - The distance the leading edge sweeps back at the tip.
    Enter a value of 0 if the wing has no sweep.
  • Half Span - Distance from root rib to tip rib.
  • Number Of Ribs - Number of desired ribs in half wing.
    Used to calculate intermediate airfoil widths. If you want to manually provide widths of airfoils you may do so by un checking the Auto Rib Spacing box.
  • MAC CG% - The CG % at the Mean Aerodynamic Cord (MAC).
    The default value is 25 (%) back from the leading edge of the MAC.
  • DXF File Name - Name of the DXF output file to be created.
  • Sample DXF output file - RIGHT CLICK HERE and SAVE as DXF
The Values for CG, C, D and MAC are automatically calculated for you based on your input parameters!

After entering your design parameters simply click the "Generate Ribs" button. Each airfoil chord width (based on desired number of ribs) will be calculated for you. A graphical display of the airfoils will be drawn.

The entire set of generated ribs can be exported as a single DXF file. An example is shown in the AutoCAD™ screen capture below. An ASCII text file of the computed airfoil shapes is created as well for those who wish to manually draft the generated rib shapes. Note: Root and Tip airfoils for a tapered wing design can be set by the Draw Root and Draw Overlay buttons in the main program interface.

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DXF Output to CAD or Print

AFD Interface
Wing rib set for tapered wing design in AutoCAD™

Import to CAD
The most useful feature of the Airfoil Design Workshop is the software's ability to export airfoils to DXF output files. When exporting airfoil shapes to DXF files you specify chord widths. Exporting your airfoil designs as DXF files allows you to import these files into your favorite CAD program (that supports DXF import) and then take advantage of the precision of a CAD program to further develop your aircraft design. Popular CAD programs that support DXF import include AutoCAD™, TurboCAD™, EasyCAD™ and many others. Sample DXF output file - RIGHT CLICK HERE and SAVE as DXF

DXF View and Print Options
If you don't have or need a CAD program and only wish to print the airfoils shapes you design, you can use a FREE DXF file viewer such as Evolution Computing's - CADView 7 to do this job. You can get more information on CADView 7 by Clicking Here or visiting the FastCAD web site - www.fastcad.com

AFD Interface
Example DXF output in AutoCAD of single airfoil
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ASCII output

If you prefer to hand draft your aircraft designs, the Airfoil Design Workshop can output an ASCII text file of the airfoil shape. The text file contains a listing of the distances from the leading edge of the airfoil and the distances to the upper and lower ordinates of the airfoil at the given distance. With this information you can draft your airfoil designs by hand.

Airfoil Ordinate Files

Airfoil Design Workshop Version 5.0 reads and writes airfoil data in the standard .DAT format.
Airfoil .DAT files are freely available in several locations on the web. A small selection of common airfoil .DAT files is included in the package. You can download other airfoil data files on-the-fly using the convenient Get from Web button. This button launches your web browser and takes you to an Airfoil Database Web Site where you can download from 100's of freely available airfoil data files. You can change the default airfoil database web URL by editing the AFD.INI file in the install directory with Windows Notepad.

You can create you own .DAT files by using Windows Notepad. As long as your file is in the proper .DAT format and saved with the .DAT extension, Airfoil Design Workshop can read and display the file.

The following is an partial example of the ClarkY.DAT file included with this software package to give you an idea of the format. Review the other airfoil data files that are supplied with this package for an example of the proper data format if you need addition help.

Line 1 must be the name of the airfoil
The following lines are X and Y values of the airfoil ordinates starting at the leading edge and working to the trailing edge. Then back to leading edge.

Clarky.DAT airfoil data file. format is: 

CLARK Y AIRFOIL          
     1.000000     .000599
      .987006     .003678
      .966920     .008408
      .946295     .013187
      .925289     .017938
      .904009     .022631
      .882540     .027250
      .540183    -.017485
      .561775    -.016692
      .583370    -.015900
      .604966    -.015107
      .626562    -.014314
      .648158    -.013521
      .669753    -.012728
      .691346    -.011935
      .712936    -.011142
      .734521    -.010349
      .756098    -.009557
      .777662    -.008765
      .799207    -.007973
      .820723    -.007183
      .842195    -.006395
      .863601    -.005609
      .884907    -.004826
      .906066    -.004049
      .927006    -.003280
      .947633    -.002522
      .967816    -.001781
      .987384    -.001063
     1.000000    -.000599
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System Requirement

The Airfoil Design Workshop requires Windows 2000, or XP (32-bit) operating system with at least 64 Meg of RAM and a display capable of at least 800x600 resolution. Miscrosoft .Net Version 1.1 is required to run AFD. You can download the .Net version. from Microsoft if required by your PC. CLICK HERE!

Purchasing Airfoil Design Workshop

credit cards we accept

The Airfoil Design Workshop is only $9.95!
Upon approval of your credit card you will be able to download a full version of The Airfoil Design Workshop. The entire process takes less than 5 minutes.

CLICK HERE to proceed to our secure server for immediate purchase.

free demo FREE Demo
If you would prefer to download a demo version of the Airfoil Design Workshop and evaluate it before you purchase, Click Here.
The demo version does not permit DXF or TXT output and does not include a copy of XFOIL.

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Purchase a copy by mail

If you would prefer to purchase a copy of the Airfoil Design Workshop by check, cash or money order via regular mail, you can send your order along with your contact email address to the following address:

Terry Majewski
TDM Software and Consulting
PO Box 546
Heber Springs, AR 72543 USA
contact now - CLICK

For more information contact us at the address above.