Something has always puzzled me about lift: how is it possible that we can get more lift than drag out of a wing?
I think I understand lift when explained on a micro level--accelerating the air over the top drops the pressure (or we could look at it from the F=ma perspective with downwash) resulting in lift force.
But step back and look at it on a macro level. I put energy into my gas tank. If my engine and propeller are 100% efficient, that same amount of energy is turned into the work of overcoming drag. How is it possible that there is this "bonus" force of lift? Put another way, if I spend 10 units of energy on induced drag, how is it that I get back more than 10 units in the work that is done during climb?
I think I am missing something really basic here, and based on all the simplistic (and incorrect) explanations of lift out there, I don't think most who claim to understand lift actually do. Can anyone help me understand how energy is conserved on this macro level?
I think I understand lift when explained on a micro level--accelerating the air over the top drops the pressure (or we could look at it from the F=ma perspective with downwash) resulting in lift force.
But step back and look at it on a macro level. I put energy into my gas tank. If my engine and propeller are 100% efficient, that same amount of energy is turned into the work of overcoming drag. How is it possible that there is this "bonus" force of lift? Put another way, if I spend 10 units of energy on induced drag, how is it that I get back more than 10 units in the work that is done during climb?
I think I am missing something really basic here, and based on all the simplistic (and incorrect) explanations of lift out there, I don't think most who claim to understand lift actually do. Can anyone help me understand how energy is conserved on this macro level?
