Re: Misconceptions: Physics of Flight

["John S. Denker" <jsd@MONMOUTH.COM>]

At 04:55 AM 8/10/99 +0800, romanza wrote:
> Many texts give the explanation for lift of an aerofoil --- that the
> distance travelled by air on the upper surface is greater than the lower
> surface, and hence air must travel at a faster speed in order to "catch-up"
> with air on the lower surface.
> This is quite a common misconception in explaning lift. But can someone
> enlighten me on how to give a more correct version without involving
> technical details like circulation, Joukouski Theorem etc.

I have no idea how to do it without mentioning circulation.  One can
however get pretty far while
 * not mentioning the technical definition of circulation,
 * instead, just drawing pictures of circulatory flow, and
 * not requiring the Zhukovsky (aka Joukowski) theorem.

Here it is;  let me know if it meets your needs:
  http://www.monmouth.com/~jsd/how/htm/airfoils.html