6l2

FLIGHT.

December jth, 1944

FA MR FY

FIREFLY

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m e d i a t e i l a p settings would result in a reduction in the minirpdm radius of turn at full throttle in level flight, which would give the pilot an enormous tactical advantage over his opponent, not only in attack but in taking evading action. As long ago as 1936 the N.A.C.A. investigated the properties of the aerofoil flap and pointed out its advantages, but, strangely enough, little effort has been made to make use of this form of high-lift device, mainly, perhaps, because of an erroneous impression that its installation must result in an increase in weight which would largely offset the advantage gained in increased lift. The designer claims that it can be shown that in actual fact an aircraft built to conform with certain requirements of take-off, landing and load-carrying capacity will s h o w ^ x a considerable saving in weight if equipped with aerofcn Viewed from beneath, the clean flaps. Conversely, in a given design, the useful load may nesting of flaps and undercarria e be very substantially increased without detracting from g conform with the smooth
i 1 cr J 1 J!, surface of the aircraft as a whole,

the take-off and landing qualities. It is also frequently argued that the use of high-lift flaps necessarily involves difficulties in longitudinal control and trim, and there are admittedly some examples in which troubles in this direction have been experienced. Mr. Youngman points out that there is no reason why a machine equipped with high-lift flaps, giving nearly double the lift increment of a corresponding split flap, should present any difficulty in longitudinal control and trim without recourse to adjustable or oversized tailplanes, provided certain fundamental conditions are fulfilled. These conditions may be thus summarised. (a) The flap should extend at least up to the wing root and, if possible, under the body in order that the tailplane may. derive the full benefit from the increased down wash produced by the lowering of the flaps. (b) The elevator balance should be adjusted to give the correct relation to make the aircraft trim automatically when the flaps are lowered and raised. Lift and Drag The advantage of this form of flap over the split flap it- easily appreciated by a .comparison of the profile drag and lift coefficient of the split and aerofoil flaps. It will be seen that whereas the opening of a split flap causes a rapid increase in profile drag, there is no very appreciable increase in the profile drag of the aerofoil flap up to a point beyond that at which the split flap stalls. The aerofoil flap, moreover, gives a considerable increment in lift over the split flap. The improvement in take-off, manoeuvring and slow cruising which can be obtained by the aerofoil flap is not, however, directly related to the measured coefficients. Slip stream plays an important although a not easily calculable part, but it goes without saying that the effect of slip stream will be still further to increase the advantage of the low-drag flap for all the specified conditions of flight. It has been stated that the aerofoil flap presents no difficulty in its installation which is, however, not to say that any design is suitable for the incorporation of highlift flaps. I t is almost invariably necessary to consider their application in the initial stages of design. In the form of flap shown, we.have by n o j e a n s reached the limit of high lift, and in time^^rfshould be possible through development to obtain a lift increment approaching double the.amount. In the past, flaps have figured almost entirely as an aid to landing, but the advent of the Firefly demonstrably proves that flaps, in addition to take-off and landing, can also Contribute largely to the safety and more successful operation of aircraft in flight. / /

The Fairey Youngman flaps shown in the three selectable extended positions. (Top) Cruising. (Centre) Take-off. (Bottom) Landing. Cruising selection gives manoeuvrability and slow flying ; take-off, very high lift with small drag ; landing, high lift and high drag so that when the throttle is cut the machine sits down immediately.