air.guerner(at)wanadoo.fr
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 Posted: Wed May 09, 2007 11:47 pm Post subject: Flap gap seals |
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Hi all,
The gap seal thread reminds me the incident I had about ten years ago with my former plane, a Robin DR380. This airplane had very simple flaps hinged at the bottom. In order to reduce drag, I had sealed the flap gap using adhesive tape. Although the speed increase was not mesurable, I was happy with that mod until a few years later, I noticed the tape becoming unsticked in some places under the right wing. As a temporary fix until I was back home, I decided to remove the whole tape on that side. The next landing was interesting: when I lower the flaps, the airplane quickly rolled to the right and I had to apply half aileron to the left to compensate. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Conclusion: sealing the gap of that rudimentary flap design does not significantly reduce drag at cruise but clearly increase lift with the flaps down.
On the Europa fowler flaps, a seal certainly reduce drag at cruise, as noted by Jeff on Baby Blue, but the effect on lift and drag with flaps down is uncertain and will be very dependant on the design of the seal. In any case, be prepared for a strong rolling and possibly yawing effect, should the sealing tape fail during flight.
Instead of using tape, why not design an aluminium seal similar to those which are STC’ed on Cessnas and Cherokees ?
Regards
Remi Guerner
F-PGKL, XS S/N395 monowheel, 912S, Airmaster, 467 hours
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