On Jul 30, 2012, at 8:29 AM, Frans Veldman wrote:
> Oh, and I just assumed that with seals on the flap gap you mean
> seals on
> the upperside of the wing. Not on the huge gap on the lowerside of the
> wing, right? In the latter case, I can see how that could increase the
> stall speed as you effectively change the fowler flaps into non-fowler
> flaps. I didn't apply seals on the lowerside of the wing for exactly
> this reason.
Frans,
If memory serves, I believe the kind of seals you describe are
appropriate for the ailerons, and not necessarily for flaps. I seem to
recall reading that flap seals function best when...at some point
along the gap between the wing and flap...there is a linear
compressible rod which runs the length of the flap...it is designed to
maintain the pressure differential between the air along the top of
the flat and that along the bottom of the flap when the flap is
retracted. The flap seal is not intended to "smooth" the airflow
across the top of the flap when the flap is either deployed or
retracted.
But I'm not the expert, and I hope John Lawton will comment further,
Fred
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