Author Topic: Spitfire flap deployment speed (Read 361 times)

Kratzer · « **on:** March 17, 2001, 10:57:00 AM »

If anyone caught the History Channel's 'Spitfire Squadron' in the past week, they may have seen the same thing I did - which was this:

They were showing a pre-flight run through on what appeared to be a restored Mx.IX, when the pilot dropped the flaps. They just dropped - from fully upright to fully down in about half a second. (They appeared to be forced by an arm, actually)

Is this because the bird was on the ground with no air resistance? The flaps in the AH spitfires take a long time to come down, along with the buzz of a motor driving them down, however, this appeared to have no motor - it was like a hydraulic piston shoved them down quickly.

Anyone know more about this? Are the AH Spit flaps wrong?

funked · « **Reply #1 on:** March 17, 2001, 06:19:00 PM »

They're wrong. I imagine they would come down slower in flight due to air loads but by all pilot accounts they come down quite quickly.

Soda · « **Reply #2 on:** March 19, 2001, 10:22:00 AM »

Flaps, the Spit has flaps?

Seriously, they come down too slow for use in combat and if you can't put a Spit on the runway without flaps then there is something wrong. I can't believe it took this long to have them drop.... what's the point?

-Soda

Jigster · « **Reply #3 on:** March 19, 2001, 02:14:00 PM »

I have a feeling those are gravity dropped flaps with a mechanical locker for up and down.

Hence the single up/down positions.

I caught the show too, and I noticed a locker arm that pops up out of the top of the wing, and given the way they drop it looks like a simple release. Gravity "powered" flaps would drop as long as the air speed was slow enough, and might explain why they take so long to deploy.

Considering it and the 109 were Pre 40's era planes, and powered flaps weren't really in wide use for small aircraft yet, it's a possibility. If so I'd imagine it works like the 109's slats.

funked · « **Reply #4 on:** March 19, 2001, 02:48:00 PM »

They were pneumatically actuated.

Jigster · « **Reply #5 on:** March 19, 2001, 04:57:00 PM »

Guess that means the gear, and brakes were as well?

Shame to waste the weight on an air compressor AND a hydrolic pump. I suppose a pneumatic would quite a bit lighter then a liquid system in this application.

Come to think of it, if those flaps deployed as fast in the air as they did on the ground, it might explain noticeable lack of teeth of British Spitfire pilots

funked · « **Reply #6 on:** March 20, 2001, 02:39:00 AM »

Landing gear operation was hydraulic.
Landing flaps, radiator flaps, supercharger control, brakes, and guns were pneumatically operated.

Author Topic: Spitfire flap deployment speed (Read 361 times)

funked

funked

funked