The standard answer is, “Air moving over the top of the wing is going faster than air moving on the bottom, thus reducing pressure on the top of the wing, and forcing the wing up.”
My question is, Why does the air moving over the top of the wing go faster?
…and here’s something else to consider. Stunt planes, that fly upside-down a lot, have symmetrical wings, they’re the same shape on the top half and the bottom half. They can fly right-side up and upside-down, so how do they do it?
You are absolutely correct. The principle is called Bernoulli’s principle and it has very little to do with why an airplane wing generates lift. The correct force can be described as angle of attack (aka deflection). The standard explanation is one of science’s biggest scams.
Welcome to the boards. This topic has been discussed at length in Great Debates. I will be back with a link in a moment.
Here is a link to one Great Debate:
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=22977&highlight=bernoulli
Pretty much just like water skis. Action, re-action. There is some effect due to the depth of the camber as you will see a more “curved” wing on slower "hi-lift’ aircraft. Porters, Beavers, etc. Thinner wings (proportionally) on high speed aircraft.