Plan

Status: active Scope: project-wide Type: planning Last reviewed: 2026-05-16

Purpose

This plan is the main entry point for deciding what to work on next in Buffalo Wings. It stays intentionally short. Each item should be either small enough to act on directly or should point to the deeper planning, architecture, or research documents that break the work down further.

Day-to-day execution belongs in docs/design/planning/active_work.md. Detailed architecture belongs in docs/design/architecture/. Concrete completion tracking belongs in docs/development/checklists/. External references and implementation inspiration belong in docs/research/.

Current Phase

The project is still in late Phase 0: shared airfoil foundations and integration polish.

That means the main focus is still:

  • stabilizing the public airfoil runtime, schema, examples, and diagnostics,

  • closing the remaining fit and export gaps needed by downstream tools,

  • and keeping the public API and documented behavior aligned with actual code capabilities.

The project is not yet primarily focused on broad new family growth or on GUI-first feature work.

What Is Functionally In Place

  • public schema-backed airfoil construction through buffalo_wings.airfoil

  • structured validation and diagnostics groundwork

  • public sampling and export workflows

  • CST runtime and schema support

  • CST-to-spline conversion support

  • public camber-curve extraction for constructable airfoils

  • named document-level open curves for camber, spline, and polyline cases

  • functional Buffalo Panel airfoil handoff through documented schema and parser-aligned code capabilities

Workstreams

Airfoil Fit And Diagnostic Closure

  • Finish the remaining fit-quality diagnostics and fitting-reporting gaps needed for a stable Phase 0 airfoil layer.

  • Use docs/design/planning/active_work.md, docs/design/architecture/section_curve_interface.md, docs/research/codeeli_capabilities_reference.md, docs/research/airfoils/reference.index.md, and docs/development/checklists/airfoil_integration_complete_checklist.md when planning the next concrete slice.

Airfoil Sub-Package Refactor

Now that there is a better understanding of the shape of the airfoil ecosystem, the package needs to be redesigned. The vision of this redesign is expressed in docs/design/architecture/airfoil_redesign.md.

Airfoil Schema Gaps

These are the airfoils that are still missing some schema implementation features

  • naca16

    • Runtime construction

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Round-trip/runtime testing

  • naca6

    • Runtime construction

      • I have sample implementations and other info at docs/research/airfoils/6-series/6-series_notes.md

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

    • Approximate and exact source switch params<->designation

    • Round-trip/runtime testing

  • naca6a

    • Runtime construction

      • I have sample implementations and other info at docs/research/airfoils/6-series/6-series_notes.md

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

    • Approximate and exact source switch params<->designation

    • Round-trip/runtime testing

  • file

    • Runtime construction

      • I found a few references on airfoil smoothing docs/research/airfoils/reference.index.md

        • AFSMO: docs/research/airfoils/point_smoothing/afsmo/readme.txt

        • PROFILE: docs/research/airfoils/point_smoothing/profile

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

  • points

    • Runtime construction

      • I found a few references on airfoil smoothing docs/research/airfoils/reference.index.md

        • AFSMO: docs/research/airfoils/point_smoothing/afsmo/readme.txt

        • PROFILE: docs/research/airfoils/point_smoothing/profile

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

  • biconvex

    • Runtime construction

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

  • biconvex_parabola

    • Runtime construction

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

  • polygon

    • Runtime construction

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

  • joukowski

    • Runtime construction

      • I have derivations for surface equations but not parametric derivatives

      • I also have derivations for flow field and surface properties

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

  • parsec

    • Runtime construction

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

  • flat_plate

    • NOTE: This needs to be moved to the camber schema

    • Runtime construction

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

  • circular_arc

    • NOTE: This needs to be moved to the camber schema

    • Runtime construction

    • _runtime_supports_spec/constructable flip

    • Param-rich describe_spec

Airfoil Sensitivity Vertical Slice

  • The next useful milestone is still a CST-first public sensitivity slice built on a settled shared interface.

  • Start with docs/design/planning/active_work.md, docs/design/architecture/airfoil_sensitivity_architecture.md, and docs/research/codeeli_capabilities_reference.md.

Wing Canonical Geometry

  • Continue advancing wing section placement, canonical geometry, and join-ready interfaces on top of the stabilized airfoil layer.

  • Use docs/design/architecture/wing_design.md for the design contract and docs/design/planning/active_work.md for the currently active slice.

Other Airfoil Families And Workflows

  • Other airfoil families and workflows should be pursued only when they unblock fitting, reconstruction, or downstream wing work.

  • Start with docs/design/planning/active_work.md and docs/research/airfoils/reference_index.md.

Documentation And Navigation Discipline

  • Keep the design, planning, research, and development-tracking layers separated so active work does not disappear into idea collections.

  • Use docs/design/planning/active_work.md, docs/design/index.md, and docs/research/index.md when deciding where new material belongs.

What To Do Next

Use this rule:

  1. Start here.

  2. Pick the smallest workstream that materially unblocks the project.

  3. If the item is small, do it directly.

  4. If the item is larger, follow its links into active_work.md, architecture, research, or checklists before breaking it down further.

Not The Focus Right Now

  • broad speculative family expansion before current fitting and diagnostics work is stable

  • GUI-heavy feature work before the library contracts and diagnostics are ready

  • CAD-facing policy decisions that do not yet have a concrete downstream consumer

  • letting the plan grow back into a long execution notebook