Linked Questions

It is widely understood that the curved shape of a typical airfoil (such as a Clark Y) causes a pressure difference that creates lift. How do symmetrical airfoils do this when the top and lower ...

I heard that when an airplane is flying, air speed or air pressure is higher under the wings. Is it true?

As air flows over the top of an aerofoil the pressure drops. Compared to the high / normal pressures on the underside, a pressure gradient is formed with higher pressure further above the wing. You ...

How can lift on a canvas covered airplane wing in level cruising flight be explained without introducing Bernoulli ? Both upper and lower surfaces are bulged out,which indicates lower than ambient ...

Even the earliest airplanes did not apply Bernoulli principle. The wings were flat, and it worked. An honest engineer admitted that 'take off' is a mystery. Is there alternatives for Bernoulli ...

I recently learned that the pressure on the bottom of the wing is increased, and air moves faster on the bottom part of the wing. The speed of the air on top of the wing is not increased. So I am ...

Foreword: I am an Aerospace Engineering student and next year is my third and final year, starting September 2019. I was taught approximately 2 semesters ago that the correct theory of lift is that ...

As I understood from this article, wings on an airplane basically create lift by pushing air down. Maintaining the lift force expends energy because air needs to be continually accelerated downwards. ...

As an engineer I can explain in very technical terms exactly what makes an airplane fly, however, it isn't easily understood by non-technical people. How can I explain it to a non-technical person, ...

This question discusses how wake turbulence can affect planes flying in formation. It got me wondering, how do aircraft (the wings in particular) form wake turbulence to begin with? It can't be as ...

Why are wings load tested by putting weights on the underside of the wing (placed upside down)? A wing is being pulled into the air from its upper surface in flight, so shouldn't it be load tested in ...

When I was learning for my license, one of the first diagrams I remember was about the wing profile. The air going around the wing and on the upper side it has to travel a longer way, thus generating ...

A stall occurs when the angle of attack of a wing or other airfoil becomes so high that the airflow over the upper surface of the wing separates from the wing, rather than remaining attached to it; ...

This is a aviation principles question coming from my nine year old daughter that I need help with. I was explaining to her the principle of flight and the fact that you need airflow under the wing in ...

Describing lift as the result of "equal transit time" on both sides of an airfoil is a fallacious theory widely found in technical books and articles for general public (see below for details about ...