For many students the "hand out of the window of a
moving car" is a primary activity to experience the lift
force.
a) Only drag when the hand surface is horizontal,
b) some lift when it is tilted upward and
c) a "negative lift" when the hand is tilted downward.
Did somebody conduct semi quantitative experiments of
that kind recently with students? For example, changing
the shape of the "wing", changing its length, driving at
different speeds while pulling a platform on wheels,
(such as a bathroom scale with wings ?) etc.
That is how the ideas of "imitating birds" were first
tried nearly a century ago. The drawing of a "helicopter"
by great Leonardo, and the ancient Greek legend about
the "flopping and soaring wings" (Icarus and his son)
also come to my mind.
Ludwik Kowalski