AVweb Whatâs Your Angle? Pitch plus power still equals performance. Once we decide on the desired combination for different flight phases, we can use it again and again. In the April issue of Aviation Safety, we explored the theories of generating lift from Bernoulli and Newton, and how neither of them alone fully explains how airfoils work. Bernoulliâs basic understanding of low pressure above an airfoil is correct, but the math is wrong and his assumptions are faulty. He also doesnât explain inverted flight. Meanwhile, Newton has a decent handle on using angle of attack to generate lift and his Third Lawâ every action has an equal and opposite reactionâtidily handles inverted flight, but he has little to offer us in explaining low pressure above the airfoil.