Are slats shy ?

[Crumpp]

"Spaltklappen" and "Spreizklappen"

Is the radiator and intake flaps, btw....

Polar represents landing flaps at 60 degrees and the influence of the radiator and intake flap settings.

[CaptainDoggles]

Originally Posted by Crumpp

Is the radiator and intake flaps, btw....

Are you sure? I think Spreizklappen are slotted trailing edge flaps whereas spaltklappen are split flaps. I understood these polars to be from tests of an E-3 for evaluating different alternatives to be included on the F-series as components (in this case different flap designs).

Image for those not familiar with different types of flaps

[JtD]

Originally Posted by Crumpp

Is the radiator and intake flaps, btw....

Polar represents landing flaps at 60 degrees and the influence of the radiator and intake flap settings.

No, in addition to what CaptainDoggles wrote, the cooler flap is set at 60°.

[Friedric]

And there should be a bang nose isn it ?

[JtD]

Not everyone around here speaks German, and given that the chart is labelled with Spalt- und Spreizklappe, and the legend contains it as well, it is useful information for everyone to understand the chart.

You presented a value from flaps extended polars, as you say the stall happens at ~17.5°, which is only the case with flaps extended. Good to know it wasn't intentional.

Slats open as chosen by the designer. It is absolutely possible to give them progressive characteristics so that they indeed bang open. This is reported by many pilots in case of the 109, and while I haven't flown one, I trust their word over yours.

I also have no clue how much simplified the polar is, it can contain everything or nothing. The information that can definitely be taken out is the one you and I agree on, the AoA the slats open at.

You're welcome to educate everyone on how you extract the other information.

[CaptainDoggles]

Originally Posted by JtD

Slats open as chosen by the designer. It is absolutely possible to give them progressive characteristics so that they indeed bang open. This is reported by many pilots in case of the 109, and while I haven't flown one, I trust their word over yours.

I think the "banging open" behaviour is from novice pilots yanking the stick and rapidly traversing through the range of angles of attack at which the slats actuate. Or perhaps debris in the tracks causing it to stick for an instant.

I doubt very much that the slats were an "either fully open or fully closed, nothing in between" type of system. They're like a drawer in your kitchen. If you pull it out rapidly it'll bang once it hits the end of the track, but it's still possible to open it half-way.

IIRC they also went from a pivot-arm type of mechanism on the early models to a roller-track mechanism on later variants (I think starting with the Gustav). Possibly the early models were more prone to sudden/violent actuation than the roller track mechanisms on the later aircraft.

[Robo.]

- Could the pilot control the leading edge slats?

Originally Posted by Crumpp

The slats open as required and the amount can be precisely controlled by the pilot.

Originally Posted by Kyösti Karhila, Finnish fighter ace. 32 victories

No. The slats were extended when the speed decreased enough, you could feel when they were extended.

Some interetsting info about Bf 109 slats from my bookmarks:

http://www.virtualpilots.fi/feature/...09myths/#slats

http://109lair.hobbyvista.com/techre...lats/slats.htm

[TomcatViP]

Originally Posted by cheesehawk

What am I supposed to see split seconds before my nose goes into the ground?

Inertia makes them open on the grd.