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0 pointsbillforsternz9y ago0 comments

Thanks for this. I read a million explanations of how airfoils worked as a boy and they all said the air had to travel faster over the top surface to catch up. Why does it have to catch up? I would scream internally. I'm stunned to find it was never true.

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mbrookes9y ago

This [1] is one of the most comprehensive examinations of lift, written in layman terms.

You can read the HN discussion here [2], since this appeared on the front page a week ago, much to my surprise [3].

[1]1 http://ljjensen.net/Maritimt/A%20Review%20of%20Modern%20Sail...

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13829625

[3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13835243

luca_ing9y ago

If you're interested in the topic, maybe you'd like to read

http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/airflylvl3.htm

rhizome9y ago

Probably like the Bohr model in Chemistry, it's an easy way to introduce the concept. Frankly I was under the impression it was true, too, and my dad was a small-plane pilot.

halomru9y ago

The Bohr model at least has simplicity going for it, and it's close enough to explain most things that are relevant to chemistry.

For aircraft lift, "equal transit time" is not easier to understand than "an angled wing pushes air down, because of conservation of momentum that pushes the aircraft up".

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