Originally Posted by
bubi352
You are right to say "lift" is 90 degrees from the relative wind - BUT - does it apply to us in our case? Are we really generating lift? Just like straight and level - you maintain straight level because you have a balance of two forces: Lift and Weight.amount, we would then in this case fly away from the cliff. There is just no force to counteract it. So how can we fly parallel to this cliff?.
I think you're confusing the vertical component of lift and the vector quanity - lift
is a force and as such it has a magnitude and direction. Lift acts from a flow, it is always 90 degrees from the relative wind. Even if a plane is upside down in a 1g loop the aircraft is still producing lift towards the ground not opposing it. There is a big difference between not producing lift and lift not being equal to weight.