"vaughn" wrote in message ...

"Wright1902glider" wrote in message
...

Amen! I say to thee, a wing does NOT fly by pushing air down. Rather,
it creates a difference in airspeed between the air on top of the wing
and the air underneath it (relative to gravity or G-forces) which
creates the difference in air pressure which causes what we call
"lift".

I decided years ago to "stop deciding" and just believe that life comes from both theories. If you only look at the
picture that started this thread, you will be left with no doubt about classic lift theory, but if you had spent as
many hours as I have at the back end of a glider tow rope, you would know that the wake of an airplane is strongly
deflected (accelerated) downward. (New airplane pilots learn about wake turbulence from pictures in books, but glider
CFIs must take their students into the real thing on a daily basis.) Flying a short distance behind a tow plane, I am
always flying in clean air unless I fly considerably *below* the tow plane.

Even though I know better, from inside a glider on tow it sure looks like an airplane's lift comes from pushing air
down.

Vaughn



Hope to do the glider rating thing next year. Sounds like a good add on and BFR resetter...

Equal and opposite reaction, momentum theory, etc. The low pressure on top causes the air to deflect down...and I go up!

Nothing like 720 power turns bumping through the second 360 as you go through your own wake...