Aerodynamic characteristics of an elliptic airfoil at low Reynolds number

Aerodynamic characteristics of a 16% thickness elliptic airfoil at the Reynolds number of 3×105 are described. Experiments were conducted for two flow conditions, one for the smooth airfoil and the other for the airfoil with a transition trip. It was observed that, when the angle of attack was below 4 deg, the lift curve slope for the smooth airfoil was much greater than 2π, whereas that for the trip airfoil was about 2π. It was also found that the pitching moment coefficients about the quarter-chord varied significantly with the angle of attack in great contrast to those of conventional airfoils.