Lift-to-Drag Ratio?

Alan Baker wrote in
:

OTOH, look at an F-16 fighter. Virtually no "lift" from the airfoil
design at all. The lift comes from Angle of Attack (AOA), which
causes induced drag.

How can people write something as incorrect as AOA generated lift
causes induced drag that "airfoil design" wouldn't????

Lack of sleep? Rushed? G

Still, it's not that incorrect. I didn't actually say what you
paraphrased... that lift due to airfoil design didn't cause induced drag.

Increasing the angle of attack (until stall) increases lift, with a
corresponding increase in induced drag. The alternative is a higher lift
airfoil that produces the same amount of lift at a much lower airspeed,
where lower parasitic drag will be encountered.

Please feel free to give him a much more detailed (and hopefully more
specifically accurate) explanation. But remember that he is looking for a
a basic understanding... not Reynolds numbers.

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James M. Knox
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