The lift provided by a "plane" isn't complicated in the least. Picture a plane, (Wiki definition, "abstract surface which has infinite width and length, zero thickness, and zero curvature") and of course, for this discussion, our "plane' does have a defined length and width, and for now, it is also of zero thickness.

So now, picture our plane traveling through deep space. Space is actually not a perfect vacuum, there ARE random molecules floating around. Not many, but they're there. So our plane travels through space with the surface perpendicular to the direction of travel. Eventually, the plane encounters a molecule of air.

So what happens when that molecule hits the plane? Depends on where it hits. If the molecule hits the dead center of the area of the plane, Newton's law of action/reaction dictates that the molecule will resist being displaced and a small force will be imparted on the plane, slowing it down. The molecule itself will be deflected straight backwards, in effect, will bounce off the plane and now travel backwards, reversing its direction. This can be defined as drag.

Let us now tilt the plane 90 degrees so that it travels edge on. With zero thickness, it'll encounter no air molecules, ever, and nothing will happen to the plane. Now lets tilt the plane exactly 45 degrees and now what happens to our theoretical molecule that hits the plane dead center? It's now deflected NOT backwards against its original trajectory, but will now be deflected 90 degrees. Newton says that the molecule will resist this change of direction and impart a force on to the plane, a force that is exactly 45 degrees to its direction of travel. Let's throw in a handful of molecules and for the sake of simplicity, assume they all hit the plane at the same time.

This is lift. Not in space of course, but on earth, where the force imparted is intended to counter the force of gravity.

One earth, with a virtual sea of molecules, our plane traveling at 45 degrees, will exhibit a great deal of lift along with a great deal of drag. Too much lift along with too much drag. So we reduce the tilt so that we find a sweet spot where we maximize lift and minimize drag. That sweet spot is the angle of incidence. What maintains that angle is a thing called a fuselage and another, smaller plane (stabilizer)that functions as a lever to keep the main plane oriented correctly.

This is a simple plane traveling through the air, deflecting that air downwards, with the impact of billions of molecules imparting a force ala Newton to counteract the force of gravity.

In the real world, no plane can have zero thickness so we have that and to minimize drag, we shape the thickness part of our plane into something we call an airfoil.

Simply put, a plane provides lift by having molecules of air bouncing off the bottom to counteract the force of gravity. We're simply "scooping" the air, bouncing it off the plane in the correct direction.

All these air molecules that are being deflected will bounce around, bumping into one another and we will discover EFFECTS. Some of these effects are incorrectly defined as forces such as downwash. Some of these are correctly defined, such as the Coanda effect or laminar flow. They're all just effects. Newton rules the day here, not Bernoulli although he has a minor roll to play depending on the shape of the airfoil used.

If the airfoil we used was rectangular, you can see that a percentage of molecules would be deflected straight back by the flat leading edge and induce significant drag. We want to minimize the drag so we round off the leading edge and narrow the trailing edge to a fine point because birds do it that way and they learned that the hard way through evolution so we copy what works. We also modify what works depending on the characteristics we want our plane to have. Red Bull racers will not use the same airfoil as a DC3 for obvious reasons.

In its purest form, (best) lift is provided by a plane, tilted just right, traveling at just the right speed through a sea of molecules. Everything else is just details.

I had to chuckle. At the Ottawa air museum, they had a display with a Clark Y type airfoil plane, inside a clear, plastic box with air passing through. They used Bernoulli to explain lift, yet they had you tilt the plane to illustrate the lifting force developed.

When I instruct, youngsters in particular may ask how a plane flies. I just tell them that the wing scoops the air and it's amazing how well that satisfies their question. Some will want more details and mention Bernoulli from their high school physics books. That's when they find out that just because it's in a book or written by someone, that doesn't guarantee that it's right or the truth. Just someone's opinion and that all this is,, JMO.