VOCABULARY / PROFILE
Profile
Profile — the wing's section shape. Decides where lift comes from: low-speed lift, acceleration, drag and top-end speed.
The profile is the wing's section shape — what you would see slicing across it. It decides how the wing develops lift, and therefore low-speed lift, acceleration, drag and top-end speed. It is also why two wings can agree on every number a spec sheet prints and still ride nothing alike: a 600–650 cm² wing on a higher-camber profile can produce as much low-speed lift as a 750 cm² wing on a thinner, lower-drag one.