Le Chaud Lapin wrote:
On Feb 12, 5:38 pm, Dudley Henriques wrote:
You are correct in that there are incorrect theories of lift in play,
but totally incorrect in any assumption that these incorrect theories
are not so well known as to be considered at this point in time 101 by
any good flight instructor.and indeed, any well trained pilot.
For you to appear here and state that pilots generally are unaware of
these issues is disingenuous to a fault and totally untrue.

Hmm...the NASA site and a few other sites I found a few months ago
seemed to imply that incorrect theories of flight were still popular,
even among pilots. But of course, I cannot know.

There are basically 3 incorrect theories of lift and they are the equal
transit theory, the "venturi" theory, and the reaction theory concerning
the underside of the wing.
Both Bernoulli and Newton are in themselves complete explanations of
lift as both occur at the same instant in time on the surface generating
lift and one can not physically be present without the other.
Each can be used to explain lift, and good CFI's present lift explaining
how both interact.

This information as I said is basic to all good pilots and CFI's.

Well, this response could have saved us a lot of typing in my OP on
backwash long ago.

Also...my Jeppesen "Private Pilot" "Guided Flight Discovery" book was
published in 2007, and what is written in it contradicts what is
written on the NASA site. And what is written at two promiment aero/
astro texts in the USA contradicts what is written on the NASA site.
And what my own flight instructor told me in ground school contradicts
what my physics book says.

I did consider the possibility that pilots who teach/write these books
know that some of what is being taught/written is not accurate, but,
in the interest of matriculating and moving the student quickly
through flight learning, they simply repeat what was said in early
days of flight.

Being an engineer, I would rather have had a disclaimer, something
like, "There is still much debate on this issue....but this is what we
know or think we know.."

-Le Chaud Lapin-

As I said, and said correctly, there are basically 3 incorrect theories
of lift out here and these are well known and corrected daily by any
good CFI or pilot.
Addressing your issue specifically, there are ALSO a considerable amount
of both CFI's and pilots who teach correct theory incorrectly, which can
cause even more confusion.
Contrary to what you have implied by your assertions here, I have found
the pilots and instructors on these forums to generally be quite aware
of the incorrect lift issues and more than willing (Google is your
friend on this) to engage those like yourself who have questions.
There are always a few "hold overs" from the old incorrect days on any
public forum, but to state that this condition is anything close to
systemic is a huge stretch.

There is nothing wrong with presenting a question that contradicts some
of what has been written about lift, but doing so as a challenge to
pilots everywhere will ruffle a few feathers every time.
There are many fine pilots out here who don't have engineering degrees.
I can assure you these people are anything but stupid.
If you are a student and as well a knowledgeable engineer, that can show
in your questions without being challenging or demeaning.
To reiterate, there are text books still in print that offer incorrect
information on this issue, but the main cause of confusion lies in
another direction. The books are being corrected every day, and not all
of them are wrong by a long shot.
The real "issue" on the subject of lift lies in the basic misconceptions
of a few, not in the ignorance of the general flying community as you
have incorrectly insinuated.


--
Dudley Henriques