It would probably be best if it wasn't referred to as a flap in the first place.
<Some Deleted>
This conversation keeps coming around every few months. I don't get it. The dive recovery flap is a different animal.
It extends into the airflow from the bottom of the wing, and it changes the airflow. Therefore "flap" is probably the best definition.
However, as you have stated, it doesn't create lift or drag the same way a normal flap does. We have "flaps", the regular kind that are included on just about all airplanes, and we have "dive flaps" or "dive brakes", which are used to slow the plane down and/or provide greater stability in a dive. And then we have these "dive recovery flaps" which don't provide drag or lift, but are used in a dive. Of course people are confused.
But then, they are also confused by the propellers spinning in opposite directions.
You just have to realize that it takes a special person to understand and appreciate the uniqueness and beauty of the P-38.
