Dick,

We have a real, unresolved dilemma on our hands.

How much over simplification is appropriate for the layman?

For years, elementary texts explained lift by just refering to Bernouli's principal and the pressure differences it produces. This was such an oversimplification that it borders on a lie. See:
http://www.monmouth.com/~jsd/how/htm...ther-fallacies
and paragraph 3.14 in particular.

This oversimplification resulted in lenthy arguments about which of the four or five explainations of lift was correct when, in reality, there is one mechanism for aircraft that requires four consistent but different theories to fully explain lift.

Sometimes I think it is better to challenge the understanding of the layman with a relatively full explaination. In this way the people who are motivated to learn will inquire further and get the tools necessary to understanding and the rest will fall by the wayside when they run out of motivation to learn more.

I remember clearly asking my father how airplanes could fly when I was about seven years old (65 years ago). My quest is life long and I am still learning from people like Dr. Mark Drela.