Are slats shy ?

[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.