Dive flaps/breaks??

[BBGunn]

Do the dive breaks really do anything to slow the P-38 or 47 down?.  Doesn't look it to me. Speed stays the same.  Trim stays the same.??????

[funked]

They are dive flaps, not dive brakes.  They are very small surfaces under the wings.  They slow the plane down a little, but their main purpose is to move the location of shock waves on the aircraft, in order to prevent "Mach tuck" where the horizontal stabilizer and elevators cease to function.

[BBGunn]

Yes but do they do anything in AH? When the Fowler flaps were used on P38's it increased the rate of turn some or so says the pilot biographical info.

[Westy]

 I love the brake/flap on the P-38. I can quite often zoom down or into a slower bogy, watch them do a break turn, hit my dive brake/flap and I pull right in on them.
 The flap on the 47 helps when youy start hearing those structural groans and you find your controls are embeddedin cement.  

-Westy

[-lynx-]

Dive flaps are not Fowler flaps - as funked explained they're used to re-distribute airflow around the plane at high speeds.

Flaps - normal, whether Fowler or any other type - are used at low speeds with dramatic effect on lift (Fowler's especially), drag and trim.

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-lynx-
13 Sqn RAF