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Welcome to part four in of a five-part series on airframe structures. In the previous tutorial we discussed the wing structure, now we will focus exclusively on the aerodynamics and structural design of the high lift flap and slat system.

Introduction

Almost all modern aircraft make use of a high-lift system to provide additional lifting capacity at slow speeds. This system takes the form of trailing edge flaps, leading-edge slats, or a combination of both. Slats are rarely used on light aircraft, except for some STOL models that are built with fixed leading-edge slats to improve take-off and landing performance. Flap systems range from simple plain flaps to very complicated multi-element fowler type configurations. This tutorial will provide an overview of the different high-lift systems in use today and discuss the various trade-offs between performance and simplicity.

Why a high-lift system?

Slats are extendable, high lift devices on the leading edge of the wings of some fixed wing aircraft. Their purpose is to increase lift during low speed operations such as takeoff, initial climb, approach and landing. Slats are the same as slots - except they open and close. In fact, slots are often called slats - though technically they're a 'fixed slat.' Check out the video below. It's a great example of how opening and closing the slat affects airflow over the wing.

Aircraft typically operate across a wide range of speeds. A wing is generally designed to be most efficient during cruise, which for most general aviation or commuter types is the aircraft’s primary mission. Wings designed for a cruise condition are not necessarily well suited to low-speed flight, and so taking-off and landing would be considerably more difficult (read dangerous) if the wing could not be modified through a flap system to increase the lifting capability of the wing at low speeds.

How do flaps and slats work?

Flaps and slats work by increasing the camber of the wing through the mechanical actuation of leading-edge devices (slats) and trailing edge devices (flaps). Flaps generally span the inboard half of the wing and make up the last 25% – 30% of the wing chord. They are mechanically actuated and controlled by the pilot in the cockpit. The pilot can deploy the flaps to a number of predetermined angles below a certain speed; and does so before landing and often for a take-off as well.

Camber is the measure of the curvature of the wing aerofoil profile. Aerofoils that are more highly cambered produce more lift at a given angle of attack. A deployed flap or slat works the same way and increases the camber of the wing, which produces more lift at a given angle of attack, or the same lift at a lower angle of attack.

Increasing the lifting capability of the wing through the deployment of flaps increases the maximum lift coefficient of the wing. The lifting equation can be rearranged to solve for velocity, and the stall speed determined if the maximum lift coefficient is substituted into the equation. Increasing the maximum lift-coefficient by extending flaps reduces the stall speed of the aircraft, which is ideal during take-off and landing.

A typical graph of lift-coefficient against angle of attack for a light aircraft at three flap settings is shown below. The effect of adding flap during an approach and landing can be demonstrated by referring to the graph.

Each flap setting results in the aircraft operating on a different lift curve. Larger flap angles result in an increase in lift produced for a given angle of attack. This means that during the approach to land, adding flaps not only reduces the stall speed, but also reduces the angle of attack needed to maintain a given lift value. This results in a lower pitch attitude (more nose down) during the approach which gives the pilot better visibility during this critical phase of the flight.

Adding flaps not only increases the lift produced but also the drag. This is an important consideration which must be well understood when learning to fly. Increased drag can be useful when trying to slow the aircraft down to the approach speed but can present a problem when trying to climb away, for example during a go-around. You should always refer to your pilots operating handbook for the particular aircraft you are flying, and use the manufacturer recommended flap settings for take-off and landing. Large flap deployment angles also make the aircraft more susceptible to gusts. On windy days it is common in a light aircraft to fly the approach and landing at a reduced flap angle to improve control authority in these conditions.

Types of Trailing Edge Flaps

There are many variations of trailing edge flap in use on modern aircraft today. Plain or simple flaps merely deflect the trailing edge region downward to increase camber. More complicated multi-element designs make use of slots between flap sections to reenergise the airflow over the flap, delaying separation and increasing the lifting capability of the wing.

Plain Flap

Plain flaps deflect downward to increase the camber and therefore lift produced by the wing.

Split Flap

Split flaps are rarely used today, but only the lower surface of the trailing edge is deflected downward when operated.

Slotted Flap

Slotted flaps are designed to extend downward in such a way so as to create a slot between the trailing edge of the parent aerofoil and the flap. This slot is carefully designed to allow higher pressure air from the lower surface to move through the slot, and to reenergise the airflow over the upper flap surface. This allows higher pressure air to flow over the upper flap surface, reducing the tendency for the air to separate. Slotted flaps provide greater lifting capability at steeper flap angles, reducing the stall speed of the aircraft further.

Flap systems can be designed to be single-slotted, double-slotted, or even triple-slotted. The more slots employed, the more complicated and expensive the design is to manufacture and maintain.

Fowler Flap

Referring to the lift formula, more lift can be produced either by increasing the lift coefficient (introducing camber through flaps), or by increasing the area of the wing. Fowler flaps do both; extending backwards and downwards to increase camber and wing area. Fowler flaps are the most effective flap systems in operation today but are more complicated to design, and heavier to implement. Fowler flaps can be combined with multiple slots to produce a slotted-fowler flap.

Leading Edge Slats

The principle of operation of a leading-edge slat is similar to a trailing edge flap. The camber of the aerofoil is increased by drooping the leading edge downward, and a slot or gap between the slat and the parent aerofoil allows the passage of air from the lower surface to the upper surface.

Slats are most often seen on larger jet airliners, but fixed slats have also found use on some STOL light aircraft where high lift is deemed more important that cruise performance. The permanence of a fixed slat creates additional drag at cruise when the additional lift generated by the slat is not required.

Properties of a High-lift System

We’ll close this post off with a short discussion of some important properties of a typical high-lift system, and how this should direct the way in which you use flaps in your light aircraft.

Design Trade-offs

It is important that a flap system is not only considered in terms of the additional lift being produced but also the additional drag that extending the flaps produces. Flap drag has two components: (1) the additional drag generated by the protrusion of the flap into the freestream, and (2) the additional lift-induced drag that is formed by trailing edge vortices shed off the edges of the flap.

The ratio of lift-to-drag is termed aerodynamic efficiency and is a measure of how much lift is produced relative to drag. The higher the ratio of lift-to-drag, the more efficient the aircraft and the lower the total drag signature. Extending flaps always reduces the aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft. This means that the increase in lift that is produced is less than the additional drag that results. This is particularly important when discussing the use of flaps during a take-off where the aircraft is flying slowly, and any additional drag makes it difficult to climb out.

The example below shows the change in lift produced with angle of attack for three different flap settings (LHS) and the resulting aerodynamic efficiency of those flap settings (RHS). For all three flap settings, the additional lift generated by the increased flap angles reduce the overall aerodynamic efficiency of the aircraft.

Take-off Flap Settings

The flap setting used for take-off is very important as it will determine how the aircraft operates on the ground roll and the initial airborne segment.

A take-off is defined as the horizontal distance covered from a stationary position on the runway to the point when the aircraft is airborne at a particular height above the ground (35 ft or 50 ft depending on the airworthiness regulations used). A take-off is therefore split into a ground roll and an airborne segment. Increasing the flap deflection angle used for take-off has the following effects on the two segments.

• Increasing the flap deflection angle reduces the stall speed which means that the aircraft can get airborne quicker, reducing the overall ground roll.
• The increased drag associated with the larger flap deflection angle reduces the aerodynamic efficiency, increasing the drag and making it more difficult to accelerate and climb out. This has the effect of increasing the airborne segment of the take-off.

It is very possible that an increased flap setting will therefore increase the total take-off distance. This could be a real problem if trying to get airborne from a short runway and clear a treeline at the end. It is important to always consult the pilot operating handbook and follow the advice given by the manufacturer with regards to selecting the most appropriate flap setting for a particular situation.

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Did you enjoy this post? Why not keep reading through this series on airframe structure and control surfaces.

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. They decrease stall speed.

Slats are one of several high-lift devices used on airliners, such as flap systems running along the trailing edge of the wing.

Types[edit]

Types include:

Automatic

The spring-loaded slat lies flush with the wing leading edge, held in place by the force of the air acting on them. As the aircraft slows down, the aerodynamic force is reduced and the springs extend the slats. 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[edit]

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 entire leading edge. Many early aerodynamicists, including Ludwig Prandtl, believed that slats work by inducing a high energy stream to the flow of the main airfoil, thus re-energizing its boundary layer and delaying stall.^[1] In reality, the slat does not give the air in the slot a 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[edit]

Slats were first developed by Gustav Lachmann in 1918. The stall-related crash in August 1917 of a Rumpler C aeroplane prompted Lachmann to develop the idea and a small wooden model was built in 1917 in Cologne. In Germany in 1918 Lachmann presented a patent for leading-edge slats.^[4] However, the German patent office at first rejected it as the office did not believe the possibility of postponing the stall by dividing the wing.

Independently of Lachmann, Handley Page Ltd in Great Britain also developed the slotted wing as a way to postpone the stall by delaying separation of the flow from the upper surface of 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 an Airco DH.9 was fitted with slats and test flown.^[5] Later, an Airco DH.9A was modified as a monoplane with a large wing fitted with full-span leading edge slats and trailing-edge ailerons (i.e. what would later be called trailing-edge flaps) that could be deployed in conjunction with the leading-edge slats to test improved low-speed performance. This was later known as the Handley Page H.P.20^[6] 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 near the leading edge of the wing, a design that was used on a number of STOL aircraft.

During World War II, German aircraft commonly fitted a more advanced version of the slat that reduced drag by being pushed back flush against the leading edge of the wing by air pressure, popping out when the angle of attack increased to a critical angle. Notable slats of that time belonged to the German Fieseler Fi 156Storch. These were similar in design to retractable slats, but were fixed and non-retractable. This design feature allowed the 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 automatic, spring-loaded leading-edge slats as a general rule, except for the Alexander Lippisch-designed Messerschmitt Me 163BKomet rocket fighter, which instead used fixed slots built integrally with, and just behind, the wing panel's outer leading edges.

Wing Slots And Slats Chain Link

Post-World War II, slats have also been used on larger aircraft and generally operated by hydraulics or electricity.

Research[edit]

Several technology research and development efforts exist to integrate the functions of flight control systems such as ailerons, elevators, elevons, flaps, and flaperons into wings to perform the aerodynamic purpose with the advantages of less: mass, cost, drag, inertia (for faster, stronger control response), complexity (mechanically simpler, fewer moving parts or surfaces, less maintenance), and radar cross-section for stealth. These may be used in many unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and 6th generation fighter aircraft. One promising approach that could rival slats are flexible wings.

In flexible wings, much or all of a wing surface can change shape in flight to deflect air flow. The X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing is a NASA effort. The adaptive compliant wing is a military and commercial effort.^[7][8][9]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^Theory of wing sections, Abbott and Doenhoff, Dover Publications
2. ^High-Lift Aerodynamics, A.M.O. Smith, Journal of Aircraft, 1975
3. ^ ^abHigh-Lift Aerodynamics, by A. M. O. Smith, McDonnell Douglas Corporation, Long Beach, June 1975Archived 2011-07-07 at the Wayback Machine
4. ^Gustav Lachmann - National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (November 1921). 'Experiments with slotted wings'(PDF). Retrieved 2018-10-14.
5. ^Handley Page, F. (December 22, 1921), 'Developments In Aircraft Design By The Use Of Slotted Wings', Flight, XIII (678), p. 844, archived from the original on 2012-11-03 – via Flightglobal Archive
6. ^F. Handley Page 'Developments In Aircraft Design By The Use Of Slotted Wings'Archived 2012-11-03 at the Wayback MachineFlight, December 22nd 1921, photo page 845 of converted D.H.4 for testing of slotted wings
7. ^Scott, William B. (27 November 2006), 'Morphing Wings', Aviation Week & Space Technology, archived from the original on 26 April 2011
8. ^'FlexSys Inc.: Aerospace'. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
9. ^Kota, Sridhar; Osborn, Russell; Ervin, Gregory; Maric, Dragan; Flick, Peter; Paul, Donald. 'Mission Adaptive Compliant Wing – Design, Fabrication and Flight Test'(PDF). Ann Arbor, MI; Dayton, OH, USA: FlexSys Inc., Air Force Research Laboratory. Archived from the original(PDF) on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2011.

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External links[edit]

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