109 slots

[Strike]

Originally Posted by Khamsin

Sorry, but no springs on the Bf-109 slat design .... purely air pressure driven.

Which is why you'll see some photos of 109's on the ground with slats retracted, and some with slats extended. If they were spring driven, the slats would always be extended on the ground, wouldn't they?

I agree with your theory, like I said, I'm no 109 expert. However I am familiar with pure aerodynamic slats. I saw a french design during my training that was easily pushable to either retracted or open, like you say about the 109.

I just believe that, for maintenance purposes and wearing, there should be some spring to "dampen" the movement of the slats so that they don't violently slam open or shut. Anyone could tell you that this will fatigue the design unless there was some buffer or spring to soften the movement. Anyways, there seems to be no springs forcing the slats to open.