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Old 03-27-2010 | 03:48 PM
  #48  
willig10
 
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,182
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
From: Haltom, TX
Default RE: Airfoil explanation

let's simplify this. I will go one step further in simplicity.

Take a piece of flat cardboard. Go in front of a fan and place the cardboard where it is streamlined into the wind blast. There are no forces acting on it to produce either positive or negative lift. Now tilt the flat piece of cardboard up and now you have lifting force. Same as if you point the piece of cardboard down. What this simulates is angle of attack. Now take the cardboard and make a curve in the leading edge like a wing. Do the same tilting motion. It will be more smooth in it's transition to the up side. This is excersizing bernouilis (Spelling again) effect. The wind going on top of the curved surface takes longer to get over the wing than on the bottom In essence that my friend is "Lift". We can debate all day long.

Here are my qualifications if you are interested.

22 years as an A&P and private pilot.
Background since childhood has been full size aircraft.
I have worked for Lear Jet, Bell Helicopter and a few others.

If you like you can pick up any pilot trainng manual and in essence everything I have written is the same.

You cannot argue with Physics. You can try but it just wont hold water. Speaking of which. Someone was talking about fluid a couple of posts back. Air and water can be considered a fluid. However you cannot fly an airplane under water, Last time I checked that is for submarines. Our fluid "Air" is less dense and does not act the same as water. It will be similar but not quite. Pass an airfoil in the water and place dye drops in front of the leading edge and you can see a similar comparison to our wings. However the trailing edge turbulence in water in completely different than air. That is another debate.

Glenn Williams