From: "JACK L. URETSKY (C)1998; HEP DIVISION, ARGONNE NATIONAL LAB ARGONNE, IL 60439" <JLU@HEP.ANL.GOV>
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 12:00:32 -0500
Hi romanza-
Since the air flowing over the top is moving faster, any given parcel
of air will travel further than air that is moving more slowly. There is
nothing wrong with this explanation. Where Anderson and Eberhardt take
exception, is the statement that the fast moving air parcel must arrive
at the trailing edge "at the same time as" the parcels flowing along
the bottom of the wing. That statement is quantitatively incorrect, but that,
in my opinion, is just a fine point for pedants.
Anderson gave a talk here with several physcists with aviation experience
in attendance. I don't think he convinced many of us that the A&E explanation
is more intuitive.
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Hi Jack and friends,
The misconception I was referring to was airflow on the top surface does
not flow faster because of a longer distance and to recombine again with the
airflow from the lower surface at the trailing edge. This is commonly given
as the explanation for the existence of lift in many texts.
Is there anywhere I can find an easy but correct explanation?
Thanks,
romanza
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Regards,
Jack
a former aeronautical engineer
"I scored the next great triumph for science myself,
to wit, how the milk gets into the cow. Both of us
had marveled over that mystery a long time. We had
followed the cows around for years - that is, in the
daytime - but had never caught them drinking fluid of
that color."
Mark Twain, Extract from Eve's
Autobiography