Demonstration of the effectiveness and limitations of thin airfoil theory in the aerodynamic study of airfoil characteristics

Aerodynamics as a branch of science is based on many idealized concepts and ingenious abstractions and approximations. The teaching of aerodynamics, in this context, becomes a challenging undertaking. In order to demonstrate the relevance of these concepts to real situations, it is important that appropriate experimental demonstrations are devised. In this paper we describe such an experimental programme to demonstrate the usefulness and limitations of thin airfoil theory in the analysis of the aerodynamic characteristics of an airfoil. This programme is easy to implement and has been incorporated in the teaching of aerodynamics to undergraduate students at the University of New South Wales.