Mon Oct 06, 2008 5:14 pm
mtpopejoy wrote:I have heard that Navy pilots in WWII would place the flap handle in the down position while in combat in case the speeds dropped to low the flaps would automatically deploy to produce more lift then blow back up when speed increases. It seemed to work pretty well while flying in Aces High II
Any merit to this?
P.S. Great pictures Mark and Chad!!!
Never heard of this but I do recall a story by a Wildcat pilot who forgot to put the flaps up and got into a furball with Zeros. Reportedly he entered a loop, at the top of which, as the airspeed dropped, the flaps deployed and sent he Wildcat into a flat spin. He credits the flat spin with probably saving his life. I imagine trying to loop a Wildcat to shake a Zero is probably not a good idea!
Thu Oct 09, 2008 1:41 am
daveymac82c wrote:very interesting thread. I like it. It's so nice to learn something new.
Were there any other fighters from that era that had blow-back flaps besides the two already mentioned?
-David
AFAIK the Hawker Sea Fury has something similar.