Big Pistons Forever,
Love it!!
Rather overshadows the "Acoustic Lift Theory" --- usually applied to the Brittain Norman Islander ---- when the noise stops, the aeroplane quits flying.
Now back to serious explanations --- in its simplest terms, it is the basic physics, laws of motion, action and reaction, that creates lift.
All the shapes and sizes of aerofoils are just refinements to maximise "lift" for a given power.
The papers of Lawrence Hargrave from Sydney, AU, ( the Wright Flyer was fundamentally a Hargrave Box Kite with an engine --- something acknowledged by the Wright Bros themselves, it's all in the Smithsonian) detail the whirling rig he built, starting with flat plates, moved on from there. with tabulated results for "lift" from various shapes.
As for the "friendly little molecules" that separate at the leading edge, and are miraculously re-united at the training edge, having had many adventure in-between, how many students have been taught that over the years.
As an aside, I have always been fascinated by the history of the development of the Navier-Stokes equations for analysis of fluid flow, to me that brain ranks with Newton and not far behind Einstein.
Tootle pip!!