Airfoils, Part I: Introduction
In this chapter, an introduction to airfoils and airfoil theory is followed
by the application of potential flow methods to the analysis of airfoils.
The purpose of this section is to discuss the relation between airfoil geometry
and airfoil performance. To do this we will discuss the methods that are
used to compute the distribution of pressures over the airfoil surface.
Then we will discuss the relation between these pressures and the airfoil
performance.
Outline of this Chapter
The chapter is divided into several sections. The first of these consist
of an introduction to airfoils: some history and basic ideas. The latter
sections deal with simple analyses and results that relate the airfoil geometry
to its basic aerodynamic characteristics.