For a moment, think of an airplane moving from left to right and the flow of air moving from right to left.  The weight or force due to gravity pulls down on the plane opposing the lift created by air flowing over the wing. Thrust is generated by the propeller and opposes drag caused by air resistance to the airplane.  During take off, thrust must be greater than drag and lift must be greater than weight so that the airplane can become airborne.

For landing thrust must be less than drag, and lift must be less than weight.

An airplane in flight is the centre of a continuous tug of war between four forces: lift, gravity force or weight, thrust, and drag. Lift and Drag are considered aerodynamic forces because they exist due to the movement of the aircraft through the air.  The weight pulls down on the plane opposing the lift created by air flowing over the wing. Thrust is generated by the propeller and opposes drag caused by air resistance to the frontal area of the airplane. During take off, thrust must overcome drag and lift must overcome the weight before the airplane can become airborne. In level flight at constant speed, thrust exactly equals drag and lift exactly equals the weight or gravity force. For landings thrust must be reduced below the level of drag and lift below the level of the gravity force or weight.

Thrust

Thrust is a force created by a power source which gives an airplane forward motion. It can either "pull" or "push" an airplane forward. Thrust is that force which overcomes drag. Conventional airplanes utilize engines as well as propellers to obtain thrust.

Drag

Drag is the force which delays or slows the forward movement of an airplane through the air when the airflow direction is opposite to the direction of motion of the airplane. It is the friction of the air as it meets and passes over and about an airplane and its components. The more surface area exposed to rushing air, the greater the drag. An airplane's streamlined shape helps it pass through the air more easily.

Lift is produced by a lower pressure created on the upper surface of an airplane's wing compared to the pressure on the wing's lower surface, causing the wing to be "lifted" upward. The special shape of the airplane wing (airfoil) is designed so that air flowing over it will have to travel a greater distance faster, resulting in a lower pressure area (see illustration) thus lifting the wing upward. Lift is that force which opposes the force of gravity (or weight).

Many believe that this explanation is incorrect because flat wings (such as seen on balsa wood airplanes, paper planes and others) also have managed to create lift.

Lift is a partial vacuum created above the surface of an airplane's wing causing the wing to be "lifted" upward. The special shape of the airplane wing (air foil) is designed so that air flowing over it will have to travel a greater distance - faster - resulting in a low pressure area ( see illustration) thus lifting the wing upward. Lift is that force which opposes gravity.

right click and select play to restart movie

wing shape (aerofoil)  

Laminar Flow is the smooth, uninterrupted flow of air over the contour of the wings, fuselage, or other parts of an aircraft in flight. Laminar flow is most often found at the front of a streamlined body and is an important factor in flight. If the smooth flow of air is interrupted over a wing section, turbulence is created which results in a loss of lift and a high degree of drag. An airfoil designed for minimum drag and uninterrupted flow of the boundary layer is called a laminar airfoil.

The Laminar flow theory dealt with the development of a symmetrical airfoil section which had the same curvature on both the upper and lower surface. The design was relatively thin at the leading edge and progressively widened to a point of greatest thickness as far aft as possible. The theory in using an airfoil of this design was to maintain the adhesion of the boundary layers of airflow which are present in flight as far aft of the leading edge as possible. on normal airfoils the boundary layer would be interrupted at high speeds and the resultant break would cause a turbulent flow over the remainder of the foil. This turbulence would be realized as drag up the point of maximum speed at which time the control surfaces and aircraft flying characteristics would be affected. The formation of the boundary layer is a process of layers of air formed one next to the other, ie; the term laminar is derived from the lamination principle involved.

The flow next to any surface forms a "boundary layer", as the flow has zero velocity right at the surface and some distance out from the surface it flows at the same velocity as the local "outside" flow. If this boundary layer flows in parallel layers, with no energy transfer between layers, it is laminar. If there is energy transfer, it is turbulent.

All boundary layers start off as laminar. Many influences can act to destabilize a laminar boundary layer, causing it to transition to turbulent. Adverse pressure gradients, surface roughness, heat and acoustic energy all examples of destabilizing influences. Once the boundary layer transitions, the skin friction goes up. This is the primary result of a turbulent boundary layer. The old "lift loss" myth is just that - a myth.

A favourable pressure gradient is required to maintain laminar flow. Laminar flow airfoils are designed to have long favourable pressure gradients. All airfoils must have adverse pressure gradients on their aft end. The usual definition of a laminar flow airfoil is that the favourable pressure gradient ends somewhere between 30 and 75% of chord.
 

Shallow angle of attack


steep angle of attack