GARY HILTON wrote:
Rich, I do believe that those ARE honest to goodness barn doors. So far I have only the port side flap cables disconnected...lots of photographing and schetching to remember how they go back!! I assume the P-38's cable system is pretty much the same...
Similar concept but a few differences in operation.
I haven't worked on a P-38 since mid 90's so I'm on memory mode.
38 had 4 flap sections. On each flap section were 2 trucks with rollers that rode in slots on a long machined alum forging attached to ribs located on the inboard and outboard side of each flap area. This provided the travel for extension and droop or angle of each flap section.
As the flap deployed it added area to the wing as well as camber to the airfoil.
Attached to each truck are 2 cables. One pulls the truck aft (flaps down) and the other pull the truck forward (flaps up). After traveling around several pulleys the cable is attached to a steel tube. Remember each flap section has 2 trucks so each flap section has 4 cables. All the flaps combined have 16 cables.
The steel tube contains 3 sections that are connected to each other to make a tube that reaches from near the center of the wing out to near the ailerons. On the inboard end is a nut with triple acme style threads. Not one set of threads but 3 sets of threads cut into the nut. The nut has an acme type shaft with matching triple threads. This is connected to a transmission through a constant velocity universal (like on you front wheel drive car). The transmission is run by a hyd. motor with a shut off valve geared to it.
Oh yea, the threaded acme set up is R/H threads on one side and L/H threads on the other.
The big picture is that as the transmission turns both tube assy. will travel outboard or inboard. This in turn pulls cables to pull the flaps down or up depending on the direction of travel of the tubes.
Like I said- Lockheed simplicity.
Also the flap handle is on the R/H side of the cockpit which means a pilot has to let go of the throttles, grab the wheel and then use the other hand to adjust the flaps. The flap handle also uses cables to connect to the actual hyd valve which is under the cockpit floor under the R/H side of the pilot seat.
No questions- good.
Rich