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Comment on Coanda Effect: Understanding Why Wings Work

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It is helpful to realize the trigonometry of flight. Wings leverage a horizontal force (thrust) to get a larger vertical force (lift). Freestream momentum is deflected some net angle by a wing. If you take a horizontal vector and tilt it, the length is reduced, and the height is increased. The equal and opposite reactions of the freestream momentum deflection are lift and drag on the wing. Turns out, the change in height is larger than the change in length. The following equation expresses the lift to drag ratio: sin(phi) / (1-cos(phi)+f). The phi is not angle of attack, but the net tilt angle of the freestream induced by the wing. There is some correlation between the two of course. f is a non-conservative skin friction factor.

I view aerodynamic phenomena such as stall and Coanda effect as mechanisms that interfere or enable the deflection capability of wings.

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