The lift Augmentation System on
a basic Light Aircraft consists of:
Two Control Surfaces fitted
inboard of the ailerons, along the
trailing edge and they are known
as Trailing Edge Flaps.
They increase the lifting
capability to develop the lift
required to support the weight of
the aircraft at a lower airspeed.
These kind of flaps basically
increase the Lift for a given AoA.
The trailing edge flaps are normally
extended or deployed during the T-O
and Landing Phases of flight when
low airspeeds are beneficial.
.
The increase in lift comes mainly
from the variation in effective camber
that occurs when the flaps are
deflected.
.
This changes the lift curve and also
produces a higher maximum lift
coefficient.
Extneding the Trailing Edge Flaps
also change the pressure
distribution around the wing so that
(since more lift is developed on the
rear of the wing, this results in the
C.p. moving AFT as the flaps are
lowered.
Result of this change is a nose down pitching
moment which requires correction whenever
changing the flap setting.
Deflecting the flap also increases the
effective camber of the wing and the
Drag Coefficient.
There are several types of trailing edge flaps
on light aircraft.
PLAIN FLAP:
This flap increases the wing's effective
camber and change the curvature of the
wing's upper surface which results in
earlier separation of the boundary layer
and increases FORM DRAG.
SPLIT FLAP:
Although deflecting Split Flap creates
a turbulent wake and drag Since the
upper surface curvature delays
separation of boundary layer, it
provides better lift performance.
SLOTTED FLAP:
This allows high pressure air below the wing to flow
through the slot and re-energise the boundary layer
over the upper surface of the flap.
Both changing the geometry and controling the
boundary layer control thus increases the wing's lift
performance BEYOND the PLAIN FLAP at all
AoAs.
FOWLER FLAP:
Rearward movement increases the wing area and enhances the lift
without any flap deflection.
But reduction in the t/c ratio causes the wing to stall at a lower AoA.
Both slot effect and reduced t/c ratio results in a smaller increase in
drag compared to other types of flaps.
If we examine efficiency of trailing edge
flaps:
Efficiency is measured by the gradient
of the tangents.
=> FOWLER FLAP is the most efficient.
On a trailing edge
flap, the greater the
flap deflection, the
lower the stalling
AoA.
Because: the more
cambered the wing,
the greater the
adverse pressure
gradient and the BL
separates earlier.
Flapped Wing Effective chord line
changes with flap deflection =>
effective chordline reaches 16
degrees earlier.
According to Lift Formula, an increase in the maximum coefficient of lift with flaps deflected produces a lower stalling speed.
Stalling speed depends on the
amount of flap deflection.
The greater the deflection, the
lower the stalling speed due to
the variation in the maximum
coefficient of lift.
On light Aircrafts, the TE
flaps are either:
-electrically
or
-manually operated.
In the manually operated
system, a series of cables
and a flap lever move the
flaps.
Flap lever is positioned between
the pilot's seats and raises or
lowers the flaps as the
handbrake on a car.
To extend the flaps, pull the lever up through ratchet settings i.e. 10, 25, 40 etc.
The first 2 settings are normally referred as TO settings and latter as Landing setting.
On an ELECTRICALLY OPERATED flap system;
selecting the flap angle operates an electric motor.
For take-off, the flaps are
lowered to a position that
provides the best L/D ratio
other than Flaps Fully up.
Since required lift is obtained
at a lower aircpeed, the take-
off run is also reduced.
LARGER DEFLECTIONS CAUSE A SIGNIFICANT
INCREASE IN DRAG and REDUCE THE
ACCELERATION and INCREASE THE TAKE-OFF RUN.
In this case, reduced stalling AoA and increased drag
reduce the rate
and angle of climb.
When Flaps are
raised, the lift
coefficient
immediately reduced.
It should be counter-
acted by increasing
the AoA.
Otherwise it will sink.
Thus it is
recommended that
the flaps are raises in
stages.
When flaps are initially lowered in flight, the
subsequent increase in the coefficient of lift
produces lift in excess of that required to support
the weight of the a/c.
Unless the nose is lowered to decrease the AoA, the
aircraft will experience an unpleasant climb tendency
known as Ballooning.
To prevent ballooning, lower the a/c's nose when the flaps are deflected. Once equilibrium is
established, aircraft will settle in a nose-down pitch attitude. This provides improved visibility during
landing.
In landing configuration, the flaps are normally fully extended to achieve the greatest increase in the Coefficient of Lift at any AoA.
This results in a significant reduction in the stall speed. Result is a significant reduction in the stall speed and landing speed.
(Landing speed however is always 1.3 Vso to provide controllability). (Larger aircrafts, 1.23Vsro).
