To understand how a wing creates lift, you first have to forget most of what you may have learned about it. The popular description of how a wing creates lift is wrong, and goes something like this: "Because the top of the wing is curved and the bottom is flat, the distance on top...
Fluid flow across an airfoil will generate lift because the flow rates are different on the top and bottom sides of the wing. The slower wind speed along the bottom of the wing creates a high pressure region below the wing. This generates a vertical net force due to the press...
i.e. there is a net change of momentum in the vertical plane between the leading and trailing edges of the airfoil, and by necessity of Newton’s third law, this creates a lift force. Any object that experiences lift must certainly conform to the reality of Newton’s third...
What creates lift on an airplane? Lift, as you will recall, is the result ofthe pressure differences between the top and bottom parts of an airfoil. We already have an acceptable explanation for what happens at the bottom part of an airfoil: the oncoming air pushes on the wing both vertic...
To launch, the pilot must run down a slope to get air moving across the wing at about 15 to 25 miles per hour (24 to 40 kph). This movement of air over the surface of the wing generates lift, the force that counters gravity and keeps the glider aloft. Once aloft, gravity (the we...
To launch, the pilot must run down a slope to get air moving across the wing at about 15 to 25 miles per hour (24 to 40 kph). This movement of air over the surface of the wing generates lift, the force that counters gravity and keeps the glider aloft. Once aloft, gravity (the we...
Fast-moving air causes the pressure to decrease, meaning the air pressure beneath an airplane's wings is significantly greater. It's the force created by the difference in the two pressures that creates lift. Of course, pilots rely on more than just Daniel Bernoulli's principle to fly an ...
This would lead to a lower than ambient pressure on the bottom of the airfoil as well, leading to either negative or positive lift depending on the shape. In reality, it is often (but not always) the case that the pressure below a wing is higher than the ambient pressure. For one ...
To achieve the longest flying time possible, a wingsuit flyer must raise his head and look forward, while also bending at the hips, stretching the wings and pushing down against the wind. In this, the flyer achieves as much surface area as possible and creates more lift. This slows both ...
How does it rise to a higher altitude or dive back toward the ground? First, let's consider the angle of attack, the angle that a wing (or airfoil) presents to oncoming air. The greater the angle of attack, the greater the lift. The smaller the angle, the less lift. Interestingly ...