FLAP

Flaps are hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed at
which an aircraft can be safely flown and to increase the angle of descent for landing. They shorten takeoff and
landing distances. Flaps do this by lowering the stall speed and increasing the drag.
Extending flaps increases the camber or curvature of the wing, raising the maximum lift coefficientor the lift a wing
can generate. This allows the aircraft to generate as much lift but at a lower speed, reducing the stalling speed of the
aircraft, or the minimum speed at which the aircraft will maintain flight. Extending flaps increases drag which can be
beneficial during approach and landing because it slows the aircraft. On some aircraft a useful side effect of flap
deployment is a decrease in aircraft pitch angle which improves the pilot's view of the runway over the nose of the
aircraft during landing, however the flaps may also cause pitchup, depending on the type of flap and the location of
the wing.
There are many different types of flaps used, with the specific choice depending on the size, speed and complexity of
the aircraft on which they are to be used, as well as the era in which the aircraft was designed. Plain flaps, slotted
flaps, and Fowler flaps are the most common. Krueger flaps are positioned on the leading edge of the wings and are
used on many jet airliners.
The Fowler, Fairey-Youngman and Gouge types of flap increase the planform area of the wing in addition to changing
the camber. The larger lifting surface reduces wing loading and allows the aircraft to generate the required lift at a
lower speed and reduces stalling speed.[citation needed] Although the effect is similar to increasing the lift coefficient,
increasing the planform area of the wing does not change the lift coefficient which is dependent on the camber, not
the chord.[citation needed]

Physics explanation
The general airplane lift equation demonstrates these relationships:

where:

L is the amount of Lift produced,

is the air density,

V is the indicated airspeed of the airplane or the Velocity of the airplane, relative to the air

S is the planform area or Surface area of the wing and

is the lift coefficient which is determined by the camber of the airfoil used, the chord of the wing and the
angle at which the wing meets the air (or angle of attack).[citation needed]

Here, it can be seen that increasing the area (S) and lift coefficient (
generated at a lower airspeed (V).[citation needed]

) allow a similar amount of lift to be

Extending the flaps also increases the drag coefficient of the aircraft.[citation needed] Therefore, for any given weight
and airspeed, flaps increase the dragforce.[citation needed] Flaps increase the drag coefficient of an aircraft because of
higher induced drag caused by the distorted spanwise lift distribution on the wing with flaps extended.[citation needed] Some
flaps increase the planform area of the wing and, for any given speed, this also increases the parasitic
drag component of total drag.[citation needed]

Flaps during takeoff[edit]

Depending on the aircraft type, flaps may be partially extended for takeoff. When used during takeoff, flaps trade
runway distance for climb rateusing flaps reduces ground roll and the climb rate.[citation needed] The amount of flap
used on takeoff is specific to each type of aircraft, and the manufacturer will suggest limits and may indicate the
reduction in climb rate to be expected. The Cessna 172S Pilot Operating Handbook generally recommends 10
of flaps on takeoff, especially when the ground is rough or soft.[1]

Flaps during landing

Flaps may be fully extended for landing to give the aircraft a lower stalling speed so the approach to landing can
be flown more slowly, which also allows the aircraft to land in a shorter distance.[citation needed] The higher lift and drag
associated with fully extended flaps allows a steeper and slower approach to the landing site but imposes handling
difficulties in aircraft with very low wing loading (the ratio between the wing area and the weight of the aircraft).[citation
needed]
Winds across the line of flight, known ascrosswinds, cause the windward side of the aircraft to generate more lift
and drag, causing the aircraft to roll, yaw and pitch off its intended flight path, and as a result many light aircraft have
limits on how strong the crosswind can be while using flaps.[citation needed] Furthermore, once the aircraft is on the ground,
the flaps may decrease the effectiveness of the brakes since the wing is still generating lift and preventing the entire
weight of the aircraft from resting on the tires, thus increasing stopping distance, particularly in wet or icy conditions.
[citation needed]
Usually the pilot will raise the flaps as soon as possible to prevent this from occurring.

Maneuvering flaps
Some gliders not only use flaps when landing but also in flight to optimize the camber of the wing for the chosen
speed. When thermalling, flaps may be partially extended to reduce the stalling speed so that the glider can be flown
more slowly and thereby reduce the rate of sink (which lets the glider use the rising air of the thermal more
efficiently), and to turn in a smaller circle to make best use of the core of the thermal.[citation needed] At higher speeds a
negative flap setting is used to reduce the nose-down pitching moment. This reduces the balancing load required on
the horizontal stabilizer, which in turn reduces the trim drag associated with keeping the glider in longitudinal trim.
[citation needed]
Negative flap may also be used during the initial stage of an aerotow launch and at the end of the landing
run in order to maintain better control by the ailerons.[citation needed]
Like gliders, some fighters also use special flaps to improve maneuverability during air combat, allowing the
fighter to create more lift at a given speed, allowing for much tighter turns. The flaps used for this must be designed
specifically to handle the greater stresses as most flaps have a maximum speed at which they can be deployed.[citation
needed]

Types of flaps
Plain flap: the rear portion of airfoil rotates downwards on a simple hinge mounted at the front of the flap.
Used in this form as early as 1917 (during World War I) on the widely produced Breguet 14 and possibly earlier on
experimental types.[3] Due to the greater efficiency of other flap types, the plain flap is normally only used where
simplicity is required. A modern variation on the plain flap exploits the ability of composites to be designed to be rigid
in one direction, while flexible in another. When such a material forms the skin of the wing, its camber can be altered
[2]

by the geometry of the internal supporting structure, allowing such a surface to be used either as a flap or as an
aileron. While most currently use a complex system of motors and actuators, the simplest such installation uses ribs
that resemble bent carrots - when the bend is nearly horizontal, there is no deflection, but when the carrot is rotated
so the bend is downward, the camber of the airfoil is changed in the same manner as on a plain flap.[citation needed]

Split flap: the rear portion of the lower surface of the airfoil hinges downwards from the leading edge of the
flap, while the upper surface stays immobile.[4] Like the plain flap, this can cause large changes in
longitudinal trim, pitching the nose either down or up, and tends to produce more drag than lift. At full
deflection, a split flaps acts much like a spoiler, producing lots of drag and little or no lift. It was invented
byOrville Wright and James M. H. Jacobs in 1920 but only became common in the 1930s but was quickly
superseded. The Douglas DC-3 & C-47 used a split flap.

Slotted flap: a gap between the flap and the wing forces high pressure air from below the wing over the flap
helping the airflow remain attached to the flap, increasing lift compared to a split flap.[5] Additionally, lift
across the entire chord of the primary airfoil is greatly increased as the velocity of air leaving its trailing edge
is raised, from the typical non-flap 80% of freestream, to that of the higher-speed, lower-pressure air flowing
around the leading edge of the slotted flap.[6] Any flap that allows air to pass between the wing and the flap
is considered a slotted flap. The slotted flap was a result of research atHandley-Page, a variant of the slot
and dates from the 1920s but wasn't widely used until much later. Some flaps use multiple slots to further
boost the effect.

Fowler flap: split flap that slides backwards flat, before hinging downwards, thereby increasing first chord,
then camber.[7]The flap may form part of the uppersurface of the wing, like a plain flap, or it may not, like a
split flap but it must slide rearward before lowering. It may provide some slot effect but this is not a defining
feature of the type.[8] Invented by Harlan D. Fowler in 1924, and tested by Fred Weick at NACA in 1932.
They were first used on the Martin 146 prototype in 1935, and in production on the 1937 Lockheed Electra,
[9]
and is still in widespread use on modern aircraft, often with multiple slots. As mentioned under the plain
flaps, variable geometry wings are making a comeback, and an F-111 was modified with such a system that
acted as fowler flaps by NASA for trials on the AFTI/F-111 Mission Adaptive Wing.

Junkers Flap: a slotted plain flap where the flap is fixed below the trailing edge of the wing, rotating about
its forward edge.[10] When not in use it has more drag than other types but is more effective at creating
additional lift than a plain or split flap, while retaining their mechanical simplicity. Invented by O. Mader at
Junkers in the late 1920s, it was widely used on the Junkers Ju 52, though it can be found on many modern
ultralights.

Gouge flap: a type of split flap that slides backwards along curved tracks that force the trailing edge
downwards, increasing chord and camber without affecting trim or requiring any additional mechanisms.[11] It
was invented by Arthur Gouge forShort Brothers in 1936 and used on the Short Empire and Short
Sunderland flying boats which used the very thick Shorts A.D.5 airfoil. Short Brothers may have been the
only company to use this type.

Fairey-Youngman flap: drops down (becoming a Junkers Flap) before sliding aft and then rotating up or
down. Fairey was one of the few exponents of this design, which was used on the Fairey Firefly and Fairey
Barracuda. When in the extended position, it could be angled up (to a negative angle of incidence) so that
the aircraft could be dived vertically without needing excessive trim changes.

Zap Flap or commonly but incorrectly Zapp Flap: Invented by Edward F. Zaparka while he was with
Berliner/Joyce and tested on a General Aircraft Corporation Aristocrat in 1932 and on other types
periodically thereafter, but it saw little use on production aircraft other than on the Northrop P-61 Black
Widow. The leading edge of the flap is mounted on a track, while a point at mid chord on the flap is
connected via an arm to a pivot just above the track. When the flap's leading edge moves aft along the

track, the triangle formed by the track, the shaft and the surface of the flap (fixed at the pivot) gets narrower
and deeper, forcing the flap down.[12]

Krueger flap: hinged flap which folds out from under the wing's leading edge while not forming a part of the
leading edge of the wing when retracted. This increases the camber and thickness of the wing, which in turn
increases lift and drag.[13][14]This is not the same as a leading edge droop flap, as that is formed from the
entire leading edge.[15] Invented by Werner Krger in 1943 and evaluated in Goettingen,[16] Krueger flaps are
found on many modern swept wing airliners.

Gurney flap: A small fixed perpendicular tab of between 1 and 2% of the wing chord, mounted on the high
pressure side of the trailing edge of an airfoil. It was named for racing car driver Dan Gurney who
rediscovered it in 1971, but has since used on some helicopters such as the Sikorsky S-76B to correct
control problems without having to resort to a major redesign. It boosts the efficiency of even basic
theoretical airfoils (made up of a triangle and a circle overlapped) to the equivalent of a conventional airfoil.
The principle was discovered in the 1930s but was never proceeded with and was then forgotten.

Leading edge droop: entire leading edge of the wing rotating downwards,[17] effectively increasing camber
but slightly reducing chord. Most commonly found on fighters with very thin wings unsuited to other leading
edge high lift devices.

Blown flaps: also known as Boundary Layer Control Systems, are systems that blow engine air over the
upper surface of any of the previously mentioned types of flap to improve lift characteristics. Two types exist
- the original type blew air out of channels or holes in the surface of the flap, while newer systems simply
blow engine exhaust over the top of the flap. These require ample reserves of power and are maintenance
intensive thus limiting their use but they provide lots of lift at low airspeeds. Although invented by the British,
the first production aircraft with blown flaps was the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. The later type was trialled
on the Boeing YC-14 in 1976.

SLAT
Slats are aerodynamic surfaces on the leading edge of the wings of fixed-wing aircraft which, when deployed, allow
the wing to operate at a higher angle of attack. A higher coefficient of lift is produced as a result of angle of attack and
speed, so by deploying slats an aircraft can fly at slower speeds, or take off and land in shorter distances. They are
usually used while landing or performing maneuvers which take the aircraft close to the stall, but are usually retracted
in normal flight to minimize drag.

The position of the leading-edge slats on an airliner (Airbus A310-300). In this picture, the slats are drooped, note also the extended trailing
edge flaps.

Types
Types include:

Automatic the slat lies flush with the wing leading edge until reduced aerodynamic forces allow it to extend
by way of aerodynamics when needed. Sometimes referred to as Handley-Page slats.

Fixed the slat is permanently extended. This is sometimes used on specialist low-speed aircraft (these are
referred to as slots) or when simplicity takes precedence over speed.

Powered the slat extension can be controlled by the pilot. This is commonly used on airliners.

Operation[
The chord of the slat is typically only a few percent of the wing chord. The slats may extend over the outer third of the
wing, or they may cover the entireleading edge. Many early aerodynamicists, including Ludwig Prandtl believed that
slats work by inducing a high energy stream to the flow of the mainairfoil thus re-energizing its boundary layer and
delaying stall.[1] In reality, the slat does not give the air in the slot high velocity (it actually reduces its velocity) and

also it cannot be called high-energy air since all the air outside the actual boundary layers has the same total heat.
The actual effects of the slat are:[2][3]

The slat effect: The velocities at the leading edge of the downstream element (main airfoil) are reduced due
to the circulation of the upstream element (slat) thus reducing the pressure peaks of the downstream element.

The circulation effect: The circulation of the downstream element increases the circulation of the upstream
element thus improving its aerodynamic performance.

The dumping effect: The discharge velocity at the trailing edge of the slat is increased due to the circulation
of the main airfoil thus alleviating separation problems or increasing lift.

Off the surface pressure recovery: The deceleration of the slat wake occurs in an efficient manner, out of
contact with a wall.

Fresh boundary layer effect: Each new element starts out with a fresh boundary layer at its leading edge.
Thin boundary layers can withstand stronger adverse gradients than thick ones.[3]

The slat has a counterpart found in the wings of some birds, the alula, a feather or group of feathers which the bird
can extend under control of its "thumb".

History[
Slats were first developed by Gustav Lachmann in 1918. A crash in August 1917, with a Rumpler C aeroplane on
account of stalling caused the idea to be put in a concrete form, and a small wooden model was built in 1917
in Cologne. In 1918, Lachmann presented a patent for leading-edge slats in Germany. However, the German patent
office at first rejected it as the office did not believe in the possibility of increasing lift by dividing the wing.[4][5]
Independently of Lachmann, Handley-Page Ltd in Great Britain also developed the slotted wing as a way to postpone
stall by reducing the turbulence over the wing at high angles of attack, and applied for a patent in 1919; to avoid a
patent challenge, they reached an ownership agreement with Lachmann. That year a De Havilland D.H.9 was fitted
with slats and flown.[6] Later a D.H.4 was modified as a monoplane with a large wing fitted with full span leading edge
and back ailerons (i.e. what would later be called flaps) that could be deployed in conjunction with the leading-edge
slats to test improved low speed performance.[7] Several years later, having subsequently taken employment at the
Handley-Page aircraft company, Lachmann was responsible for a number of aircraft designs, including the Handley
Page Hampden.
Licensing the design became one of the company's major sources of income in the 1920s. The original designs were
in the form of a fixed slot in the front of the wing, a design that was found on a number of STOL aircraft.
During World War II German aircraft commonly fitted a more advanced version that pushed back flush against the
wing by air pressure to reduce drag, popping out when the angle of attack increased during slower flight. Notable
slats of that time belonged to the German Fieseler Fi 156 Storch. These were similar in design to retractable slats,
but were fixed non-retractable slots. The slotted wing allowed this aircraft to take off into a light wind in less than 45 m
(150 ft), and land in 18 m (60 ft). Aircraft designed by the Messerschmitt company employed leading-edge slats as a
general rule, except for the Alexander Lippisch-designed Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket fighter, which used
fixed slots in the wing panel's outer leading edges instead.
Post World War II, slats have generally been operated by hydraulics or electricity on larger aircraft.
Slats are one of several high-lift devices used on airliners, such as flap systems running along the trailing edge of the
wing.

SLOT
A leading edge slot is a fixed aerodynamic feature of the wing of some aircraft to reduce the stall speed and
promote good low-speed handling qualities. A leading edge slot is a span-wise gap in each wing, allowing air to flow
from below the wing to its upper surface. In this manner they allow flight at higher angles of attack and thus reduce
the stall speed.[1]

Purpose and development

At an angle of attack above about 15 many airfoils enter the stall. Modification of such an airfoil with a fixed leading
edge slot can increase the stalling angle to between 22 and 25.[2]
Slots were first developed by Handley Page in 1919 and the first aircraft to fly with them was the experimental H.P.17,
a modified Airco DH.9A. The first aircraft fitted with controllable slots was the Handley Page H.P.20. Licensing the
design became one of Handley Pages major sources of income in the 1920s.[3]
Similar, but retractable, leading edge devices are called slats.[4] When the slat opens, it creates a slot between the
slat and the remainder of the wing; retracted, the drag is reduced.
A fixed leading edge slot can increase the maximum lift coefficient of an airfoil section by 40%. In conjunction with a
slat, the increase in maximum lift coefficient can be 50% or even 60%.[2][5]
Unlike trailing edge flaps, leading edge slots do not increase the lift coefficient at zero angle of attack since they do
not alter the camber.[6]

Operation
A leading edge slot is a fixed (non-closing) gap behind the wings leading edge. Air from below the wing can
accelerate through the slot towards the low pressure region above the wing, and exit from the slot moving parallel to
the upper wing surface. This high-speed flow then mixes with the boundary layer attached to the upper surface and
delays boundary layer separation from the upper surface.
Slots naturally exact a penalty on the aircraft in which they are used. This is because they contribute to drag
compared to an unslotted wing.[7] The extra drag at low speed is acceptable because of the beneficial reduction in
stall speed and improvement in handling characteristics, but at higher speeds the extra drag contributed by slots is a
significant disadvantage because it reduces cruising speed and increases fuel consumption per unit distance flown.
One way to reduce the cruise drag of slots is to make them able to be closed. This arrangement is known as leading
edge slats. Aerodynamically, slats work in the same way as fixed slots but slats can be retracted at higher speeds
when they are not needed. Slats, in turn, are heavier and more complex than slots.[4][7]
At low angles of attack the airflow through the slot is insignificant, although it contributes to drag. At progressively
higher angles of attack, the flow of air through the slot becomes increasingly significant, accelerating from the higher
pressure region below the wing to the lower pressure region on top of the wing. At high angles of attack the fastest
airspeed relative to the airfoil is very close to the leading edge, on the upper surface. In this region of high local

airspeed, skin friction (viscous force) is very high and the boundary layer arriving at the slot on the upper wing has
lost much of its total pressure (or totalmechanical energy) due to this friction. In contrast, the air passing through the
slot has not experienced this high local airspeed or high skin friction, and its total pressure remains close to the freestream value. The mixing of the upper surface boundary layer with air arriving through the slot re-energises the
boundary layer which then remains attached to the upper surface of the wing to a higher angle of attack than if the
slot were not there.[2] The leading edge slot was therefore one of the earliest forms of boundary layer control.[2]

Application of leading edge slots[edit]

Leading edge slots are generally of two types: those that are full-span and those that are partial-span.[4]
Full-span slots are generally found on Short Take-off and Landing STOL aircraft like the Fieseler Storch, Dornier Do
27, PZL-104M Wilga 2000, andZenair CH 701 STOL. Their primary purpose is to allow the aircraft to fly at a higher
angle of attack before reaching the stalling angle.[8]
In aircraft other than specialist STOL aircraft, full-span slots have serious drawbacks because, to take advantage of
the high angle of attack at the stall, they usually necessitate long undercarriage legs that either cause high drag or
are longer than can be accommodated easily inside the airframe.[9]
Partial-span slots are usually found only on the outboard portion of the wing where they ensure airflow over that
portion of the wing will remain unstalled at higher angles of attack than the inboard portions of the wing. This ensures
the wing root stalls first and contributes to docile stall behaviour and maintaining aileron control throughout the stall.[2]
[4]
Using slots in this manner produces a similar result to employing washout on a wing, but through a different means.
Examples of aircraft with partial-span, fixed slots are the Stinson 108, Bristol Beaufort, and Dornier Do 28D-2
Skyservant.

BOUNDARY LAYER CONTROL

Boundary layer control (BLC) refers to methods of controlling the behaviour of fluid flow boundary layers. This holds
particular interest in aeronautical engineering because drag may be reduced whilst achieving high lift.[1]
In the case of a freestream flow past a cylinder, a number of methods may be employed to control the boundary layer
separation that occurs due to the adverse pressure gradient. Rotation of the cylinder can reduce or eliminate the
boundary layer that is formed on the side which is moving in the same direction as the freestream. The side moving
against the flow also exhibits only partial separation of the boundary layer. Suction applied through a slit in the
cylinder near a separation point can also delay the onset of separation by removing fluid particles that have been
slowed in the boundary layer. Alternatively, fluid can be blown from a faired slit such that the slowed fluid is
accelerated and thus the point of separation is delayed.
In aeronautical engineering, boundary layer control refers to a number of methods of controlling the boundary layer of
air on the main wing of an aircraft. In doing so, parasitic drag can be greatly reduced and performance likewise
increased, while the usable angle of attack can be greatly increased, thereby dramatically improving lift at slow
speeds. An aircraft with a boundary layer control system thus has greatly improved performance over a similar plane
without such a system, often offering the otherwise contradictory features of STOL performance and high cruising
speeds.

Much research was conducted to study the lift performance enhancement due to suction for aerofoils in the 1920s
and 1930s at the Aerodynamische Versuchsanstalt in Goettingen. An example of an aircraft which uses BLC is the
Japanese sea plane the ShinMaywa US-1. This large four-engined aircraft is used for anti-submarine warfare (ASW)
and search and rescue (SAR). It is capable of STOL operation and very low air speeds, useful for both ASW and
SAR.