Great description. But then I read the XKCD mentioned in another commend, and started wondering how plains fly upside down then? When inverted the "top" of the wing would push the plane down, no?
Planes that often fly upside down typically have low camber wings. Some of them have almost symmetrical wings. Those wings have less lift in upright flight than a more highly cambered wing would, so (and for other reasons too) the manufacturers compensate with bigger engines.
Thats the camber and it depending on the type of wing and airspeed it can play a small role in inducing lift.
What's more important is the angle of attack. The leading edge of the wing is grabbing air and pushing it down. Camber helps by creating a low pressure system over the top that sucks the plane up. And finally, the trailing edge helps because you have laminar air leaving the plane at a particular vector, the Koanda effect.
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Great description. But then I read the XKCD mentioned in another commend, and started wondering how plains fly upside down then? When inverted the "top" of the wing would push the plane down, no?
Planes that often fly upside down typically have low camber wings. Some of them have almost symmetrical wings. Those wings have less lift in upright flight than a more highly cambered wing would, so (and for other reasons too) the manufacturers compensate with bigger engines.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extra_EA-300
and an engineer's question about wing design for aerobatic flight with some good answers:
http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=183605
Thats the camber and it depending on the type of wing and airspeed it can play a small role in inducing lift.
What's more important is the angle of attack. The leading edge of the wing is grabbing air and pushing it down. Camber helps by creating a low pressure system over the top that sucks the plane up. And finally, the trailing edge helps because you have laminar air leaving the plane at a particular vector, the Koanda effect.
All of these contribute to producing lift.