Practically every flying course since the Wright brothers has attempted to explain how wings work. I thought that I had it down pat until I wrote Flying Secrets (a 211 page book that focuses on practical application of aviation principles.) In the process of trying to explain wings, I discovered some much simpler ways of explaining the concepts.
- I needed to emphasize that it is not just wind over a surface that produces lift, it is wind over a curved surface that produces lift.
- Once I focused on airflow over curved surfaces, other air flow phenomena became much easier to explain.
- I could then explain lift, drag, stalls, pitching moments, adverse yaw, Pitot-static systems, etc. much better without reverting to mathematical equations, hand waving or saying, “Trust me! I have flown thousands of hours.”
My video, Achieving your Flying Goals and How Wings Work is my first video on the subject. I would truly appreciate your feedback on this. My apologies for having some extraneous stuff in it. Once I hear your opinions, I plan to re-shoot and re-edit it.
Let me give you a quick synopsis of the concepts. I have to define some terms first. [click to continue…]
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