Quote:
Originally Posted by tgrayson  The deflected flow is a result of lift, not the cause, but you probably could calculate the quantity of lift based on the quantity of air deflected. |
What I meant was that the deflected air exhibits some form of pressure on its point of impact (really the point of deflection around the wing) and that pressure is calculated for? That help.
Cl is basically calculating the pressure differences than? But it is a theoretical number, not an absolute? I say this because the rest of the lift formula is air density, speed, and wing area. Cl would be the only one capable of attempting to calculate the pressure differences that I can see.