The Effects of Reynolds Number on the Application of NACA 16 Series Airfoil Characteristics to Propeller Design

An analysis has been made of airfoil data taken on several NACA 16-series propeller airfoils from tests of 5-inch-chord models in the Langley 24 inch high-speed tunnel and l2-inch-chord models in the Langley 8 foot high-speed tunnel, This analysis has shown that the combined effects of Reynolds number changes and variations in airfoil characteristics resulting from differences in models and tunnels are such that when 5 inch-chord and l2-inch-chord data are applied to full-scale propeller design at or near the design condition, differences of less than 1 percent in efficiency will be involved.