How is LIFT produced? I can't grasp how the plane gets off the ground.

Question

As the plane rolls down the runway (thanks to the thrust caused by the propeller), air is obviously hitting the plane. The faster we roll down the runway, the faster the air (called relative wind ) hits the plane. When the air hits the wings, some of it goes under the wing and some of it goes over the wing. In order for air to get over the wing, it actually has to go over the curved surface of the leading edge of the wing. Ever notice that an airplane's wing leading edge has a curve to it?! Well as the air goes over that curve, it speeds up and becomes LOW PRESSURE air above the wing. Below the wing is a HIGH PRESSURE air. What do we know about high pressure air? High pressure air ALWAYS wants to escape to low pressure air --> thus LIFT is created! The high pressure air under the wing wants to get UP to the low pressure air above the wing and lift is generated. This is often known as Bernouli's principle. :)

Answer 1

This answer is absolutely correct. I also want to add that Newton's third law is also taking part in the creation of lift. If we remember what Newton's third law is (every action has an equal an opposite reaction) we can see how it plays a factor. As a wing is soaring through the sky, there an angle between the wing's chord line and the relative wind. This is the angle of attack. As the angle of attack increases, the air hits the bottom surface of the wing. That air gets deflected downward (action) and the wing gets deflected upwards (reaction).