CEPH Theory of Lift

Flight can be explained as the combination of four phenomena:
  1.  Create - Impacting air on a front-facing surface (withdrawing air back-side surface)  causes compression of air and increased pressure (lowered back-side pressure) on surface.
  2.  Expand/Extend - Area of low/high pressure air attempts to expand in all directions where forward velocity supplements expansion rearward on surface.  
  3.  Preserve - Methods of blocking higher-pressure air on forward/bottom surfaces from cancelling lower-pressure air on back/upper surfaces preserve the lift effect of the higher/lower pressures.  Winglets, increased wingspans, and longer longitudinal/cord distances are effective for preserving this lift.
  4.  Harvest - When the surface is of low angle to air's attack (low pitch), the lift component is far greater than the drag component.  This lead to higher lift-to-drag ratios with higher energy efficiency.   

The total lift is the surface integral of the lift vector (force x differential area) over the surface of the object.

​A large flat plate preserves pressure due to width and length/cord; hence, a rectangular place can be a very effective lift-generating surface with the front and tail edges have shapes similar to the front/tail edges of wings/airfoils. 
​Concisely stated, the four steps are:  1) create favorable pressure, 2) accumulate pressure, 3) preserve pressure, and 4) transfer to vehicle on low-pitch surface.

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