Slotted Flaps

innovator152

Well-Known Member
AFH page 11-2
The slotted flap has a gap between the wing and the leading edge of the flap. The slot allows high pressure airflow on the wing undersurface to energize the lower pressure over the top, thereby delaying flow separation. The slotted flap has greater lift than the hinge flap but less than the split flap; but, because of a higher lift-drag ratio, it gives better takeoff and climb performance. Small deflections of the slotted flap give a higher drag than the hinge flap but less than the split. This allows the slotted flap to be used for takeoff.
PHAK page 5-8
The most popular flap on aircraft today is the slotted flap. Variations of this design are used for small aircraft, as well as for large ones. Slotted flaps increase the lift coefficient significantly more than plain or split flaps. On small aircraft, the hinge is located below the lower surface of the flap, and when the flap is lowered, a duct forms between the flap well in the wing and the leading edge of the flap. When the slotted flap is lowered, high energy air from the lower surface is ducted to the flap’s upper surface. The high energy air from the slot accelerates the upper surface boundary layer and delays airflow separation, providing a higher CL. Thus, the slotted flap produces much greater increases in maximum coefficient of lift (CL-MAX) than the plain or split flap. While there are many types of slotted flaps, large aircraft often have double- and even triple-slotted flaps. These allow the maximum increase in drag without the airflow over the flaps separating and destroying the lift they produce.


A student of mine working on his cfi lesson plans pointed this out to me, i didn't know which way was right and was hoping someone here could help me out. thanks.
 
You can see from the lift curves below (source: Airplane Aerodynamics and Performance, Roskam, p. 84), that the
slotted flap, in red, has a higher lift coefficient at every angle of attack than the split flap and has a higher Clmax:

slotted%20vs%20split1.png


Yet it also has less drag at every lift coefficient:

slotted%20vs%20split2.png
 
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