NACA and the other published airfoils[1] are generally a good starting point for hobbyist/RC folks. However if you want to eke out that last 5% bit of performan

NACA and the other published airfoils[1] are generally a good starting point for hobbyist/RC folks. However if you want to eke out that last 5% bit of performance (ie. you are a company/institution), you would start with one of the above airfoils and optimize them to fit your flight envelope & mission profile. Here's a neat video of optimizing a round profile into an airfoil optimized for supersonic speeds [2]. [1] http://airfoiltools.com http://airfoiltools.com [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHYTBguMfWc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHYTBguMfWc