Abstract. Because the classical explanation for flight seems so distant from our experience an alternative `momentum flux change' explanation has often been didactically employed. We review the way in which lift on a moving airfoil arises and then show how the `momentum flux change' argument arises as the result of taking a particular limit of the momentum flux equations. We thus see where the latter may be used. Finally, we suggest a novel way of introducing the concept of lift, which allows a more direct experience of the fluid element.

Print publication: Issue 4 (July 2000)
Received 19 January 2000