Plane on a treadmill poll...

[_Christian_]

*sorta*, but not really the physics behind it in its entirety.

It's based on Bernoulli's principle if you want to know the scientific answer. Basically, a wing has a "long side" and a "short side" of sorts. The top part of the wing is longer (it is curved) while the bottom part is flat.

As the wind moves over the top and the bottom, the wind moving over the top goes faster than the wind moving over the bottom of the wing. That creates lift (if you really want to simplify it).

Yup yup, molecules on both the top and bottom take the same amount of time to travel the distance of the wing, even though the distance on top is greater. Therefore the ones on top have to be spaced farther apart, and move faster, thus creating lower pressure on the top of the wing. I'm sure you know this, but I'm just adding a little extra info for the slower half of IA.

Or why convertible soft tops bulge up at speed.

Perfect example.