If you are looking for an airfoil plotting program for your Macintosh or Windows PC, or "helpers" for CAD applications (either Mac or Windows), try these links:

CADintosh

CADintosh is a shareware 2D CAD program for technical and architectural drawings from Lemke Software. A recent update allows direct importing of airfoil sections from Selig and Eppler coordinate files as downloaded from the UIUC web site. Once imported into CADintosh, the section drawing can be exported as an HPGL or DXF file. Works great, and separate CADintosh applications are available for older 68K Macs and newer PPC machines. The shareware fee is US$32.00.

Foil 1.2

Foil 1.2 is the last version of Gregory Payne's airfoil plotting program for the Macintosh. Foil 1.2 plots high resolution airfoils from text files, allows section comparisons, and can create coordinate tables from scanned airfoil images. (Foil 1.2 is free but not public domain.) If you are downloading Foil 1.2 from the above link, you will be getting the entire Foil 1.2 file which includes a large collection of airfoils and a test image for software scanning.

Foil Coordinates to MiniCAD 3

This is a small HyperCard stack which rapidly translates airfoil coordinates into MiniCAD 3 polygons. Written by John Clark of Australia. Foil Coordinates to MiniCAD 3 requires both HyperCard Player and of course MiniCAD 3. A sample translation (EH 1.0/7.0) is provided on the first card.

J-Foil 0.1

J-Foil 0.1, written by Doug Hoffman, is a tool for creating high quality airfoil plots using the Macintosh computer and a printer. Skin thickness adjustments can be made, thus producing rib plots. (J-Foil 0.1 is free but not public domain.)

MacFoil

Dave Johnson's MacFoil not only plots airfoils, it can draw template boundaries, sheeting allowances, reference lines, and up to ten spars. MacFoil also allows you to change airfoil thickness and camber, add washout/washin to a template, and export airfoil data to a text file. Coordinates are stored in UIUC format, and MacFoil reads any airfoil coordinate file written in that format. This is especially useful for those who use the scanning function of Foil 1.2, as MacFoil will read Foil 1.2 files without editing. MacFoil is $25 shareware. MacFoil 1.0b3 runs on Macs using OS 8.1 and lower, MacFoil 1.5 runs on Macs using OS 8.6 or OS 9 with CarbonLib installed, or OS X. MacFoil 1.5 is actually easier to use, and has several added functions.

Plotfoil 3.3

Anders Lennartsson, of Stockholm Sweden, has ported Shamim Mohamed's Plotfoil 3.3 to the Mac! This is Anders' second port, the first being Plotfoil 3.2. Plotfoil 3.3 for the Mac does not at this time include all of the original Plotfoil 3.3 features, like the prompt mode, but it is otherwise fully functional, including mixfoil and editfoil. Plotfoil 3.3 for the Mac requires a PostScript® printer. (Plotfoil 3.3 is distributed under the GNU General Public License.)

FOR THE MACINTOSH AND THE PC

 

Chipmunk Basic

Chipmunk Basic is an old fashioned Basic interpreter which runs on all Macs and which is also accelerated for PowerMacs. Features supported include AppleScript, Drag&Drop, graphics, sprites, sound, speech and object oriented programming. Runs on systems from 6.0.7 thru MacOS X, Mac 512Ke thru the latest Apple G3 and G4 PowerPC desktopMacs and PowerBooks. There are also Chipmunk Basic versions for the PC environment - Windows98/NT/Me/2000, SunOS/Solaris and Linux (Intel/x86). Chipmunk Basic is copyrighted freeware. You can download Chipmunk Basic, manuals, and sample programs from the home page.

FOR THE PC/WINDOWS ENVIRONMENT

 

AirFoil Viewer V1.3

Hubertus von Heynitz wrote AirFoil Viewer V1.3 as a relatively simple on-screen airfoil plotter. AirFoil Viewer V1.3 runs on Windows machines as an EXE file. Despite its simplicity, it does have a number of features, including scaling (1:1, 2:1, 3:1, and 4:1), the option of a superimposed grid, upper and lower surface maxes, plotted meanline, and editable coordinates. AirFoil Viewer V1.3 can print the resulting plots, and can also write AutoCAD SCR files. A good sized clock in the upper left corner is a useful accent.

CompuFoil

Eric Sanders' Compufoil is by far the most popular of the airfoil plotters for the Windows environment. CompuFoil is a modular application, so you need buy only the part(s) you need. The CompuFoil site has a demo version of the software, a tutorial on foam cutting, pictures of 'planes built using CompuFoil software, and of course complete ordering information.

DreeseCode Software

John Dreese has written two applications related to airfoil design. SNACK (Super Numerical Airfoil Creation Kit) has a creation engine for NACA airfoils, flap-bender/aileron-maker, and virtual wind tunnel, and it can plot airfoils up to four feet wide and ten feet long. SNACK now sports free registration! DesignFOIL is built on SNACK technology and is the easy way to design airfoils. DesignFOIL includes WingCrafter and Rhino3D export. Visit the DesignFOIL page and download the demo!

RFILE

Sandro Fergnani submitted rfile to us for posting here on our web site. Rfile takes a file with airfoil coordinates, as available on the UIUC site, and produces another ASCII file that contains: 1) the airfoil described in segments; 2) the moment coefficient, C_m0; 3) the zero lift angle of the airfoil; 4) the mean line described by points. Written in C, rfile is a DOS program which will run in the Windows DOS shell. There is no user interface, as none is needed. Documentation is also included within the rfile folder.