The concept of circulation is presented, including the physical and mathematical concepts of circulation and lift. A description of how potential flow theory is used to model flow for airfoils, including the predictions of lift. Readers are presented with the concept of the Kutta condition, including how it impacts the development of airfoil theory. Thin-airfoil theory is developed for symmetric and cambered airfoils and methods for prediction lift and pitching moment are presented. The accuracy and limitations of thin-airfoil theory is also presented. Descriptions are presented for why laminar flow airfoils have different geometries than airfoils used at higher Reynolds numbers. Finally, high-lift systems are discussed, including why they are important for aircraft design.

The equations of motion for an elastically-supported airfoil are first derived. This is followed by a extensive review of the classical results of linear unsteady aerodynamics. State-space realizations are then introduced for those solutions, which result in time-domain formulations in dynamic aeroelasticity. They are used to introduce basic aeroelastic concepts, including flutter, divergence, and response to discrete gusts and continuous turbulence.