Aviation Physics 101: In aviation, Bernoulli's Principle is key to understanding how planes generate lift—a force essential for flight. Named after Swiss mathematician Daniel Bernoulli, this principle explains that as the speed of a fluid (like air) increases, its pressure decreases. Take an airplane wing, or "airfoil": its curved top and flatter bottom cause air to move faster over the top, creating lower pressure above the wing and higher pressure below. This pressure difference produces lift,