Having spent a lot of time on planes, I like to think I’ve gained a basic understanding of the principles of flight. I once saw that diagram of air molecules going over a wing to create an upwards pointing arrow labelled “lift” and thought, hmm, yes, that makes intuitive sense to me. I watched the flaps extending before take off and, without ever feeling the need to do any further research into the topic, decided those bits of the wing are also important for keeping the plane going up. I also reckon, gun to my head, I could point out an aileron.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/k7abpy/in-flight-simulator-the-plane-flies-itself-until-it-doesnt
