Hey guys… I have a couple questions im having trouble finding…
I plan on building my F-104 Comming in for a Landing Dio…
Are the Speed Brakes Deployed in flight approaching the runway or after touchdown?
There seem to be two sets of flaps on the wings, (inner and outer) Please excuse my ignorance here…which would be lowered in anticipation of landing…i believe only inner…
Also the one piece alieron…the rear would be pointed up, with the front pointed down…as to keep the nose up as it comes back to earth correct?
Sorry i sound stupid here but just want to clarify some things and others i just cant find.
Just as when driving a car, you apply the brakes when needed to slow or stop. The speed brakes are applied for the same reason when necessary. Either is suitable for a landing approach.
The inner surfaces are flaps the out ones are ailerons. Ailerons control roll. Flaps are used to increase the wing surface to induce greater lift.
The one piece aileron you refer to…is the thing your noticing on the leading edge of the wing? That is not an aileron but a leading edge slat. A device that is extended to increase the wings lift. Usually deployed (points downward never upward) with the flaps. Like a bird uses muscles to move its wing feathers to change the shape of its wing for slow speed to produce more lift.
An aircraft changes its wing shape using hydraulics or springs. These extend the slats. Hydraulic ones are deployable at higher speeds. The spring loaded mechanical ones deploy automatically as the airspeed drops below a certain point which means less resistance than that of the spring, thus they extend.
On modern aircraft all of the surfaces are control by a flight management system which deploy the appropriate surfaces as needed to maintain complete control and stability at various speeds and angles of attack. Hence if you watch videos of an F-16 going from straight and level flight into a tight turn, the leading edge slats are automatically deployed to maintain lift during the high AOA maneuver.
Thank you both… you both answered my question perfectly!
Hawkeye…I apologize, I screwed my aircraft terminology up lol… I meant the one piece Elevator in the rear not ailerons! It seems that in that bottom picture it is indeed slanted. front pointing down? correct?
Also! just to make double sure…FLAPS…and SLATS would be deployed down for landing…?
Called a Stabilator… The “All Flying Tail” concept did away with the typical Horizontal Stabilizer and Elevator system and combined the two…
Automatic Slats typically are spring-loaded (for lack of a better term) held in place by the slipstream and only deploy when airspdeed falls below a certain level or the aircraft is parked… I don’t know if the airspeed gets low enough for the slats to deploy during the F-104’s approach…
