Originally Posted by slim_slag
Had another thought. When an airliner computer decides what angle of attack to fly at, does it do this using a fundamental understanding of how all the air molecules are reacting against the wing? Or does it just know that at this temp/pressure/aoa/velocity/power/whatever I will get this performance? If the autopilot doesn't need to know how lift works at an engineering level, why does a student pilot or even an ATP???
Excellent point. It's entirely reasonable to explain lift empirically. Define it, and describe its relationship with speed, density, AoA, camber, AR, viscosity. Leave the physics to physicists.
I do think that anyone being introduced to lift should have it introduced empirically first. Like any other area of physics, it's tempting to descend into all sorts of profound theories about how it works, losing sight of the mere fact that the predictions of that theory bear no resemblance to real-life observations.
As a pilot, is it more useful to be abole to answer Q 96, H912 CFI
"Which statement relates to Bernoulli's principle?" than:
What is a typical maximum lift coefficient for an unflapped aerofoil?
A) 0.1
B) 1
C) 10
Yet if you try the latter around the flying club, you'll get 99% blank faces.