Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

1 Answers

How does airfoil curvature result in low pressure on top

Asked by: 1904 views Aerodynamics

Most sources I’ve seen simply state that the shape of the airfoil causes the air to speed up on top, which causes lower pressure due to the Bernoulli effect. There is no elaboration on why exactly the air speeds up.

I then found a different source that said the traditional explanation is backwards. The shape of the airfoil deflects the air away from the airfoil, which means less air molecules close to the upper surface, forming a low pressure pocket. It is then the low pressure pocket that results in the higher speed, because air flows from high to low.

Combining these two explanations, is it correct to say that initially there is low pressure due to the re-direction of air, and then there is a corresponding increase in speed which elongates the area of low pressure?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

1 Answers



  1. Gary Moore on Jul 17, 2020

    There certainly is a lot of different explanations for lift in our community. Though it’s a bit dense – the best source I know of is The text – Aerodynamics for Navel Aviators (also a FAA reference text). You can find a PDF here.

    https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/media/00-80T-80.pdf

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.