[peterdsharpe]

> when it stops being laminar the flow separates

Not true, laminar/turbulent and attached/separated are independent descriptors. Flow can be laminar+attached, laminar+separated (e.g., laminar separation bubbles), turbulent+attached (e.g., the majority of boundary layers on large aircraft), or turbulent+separated.

[JumpCrisscross]

> laminar/turbulent and attached/separated are independent descriptors

You’re right, I should have said when state changes.

L/T:A/S are theoretically independent, but not independent for a given airfoil. (High-lift airfoils, common in gliders and most airframes with flaps deployed, are turbulent boundary-layer airfoils.)