SLOTS AND SAFE FLYING

Manawatu Standard, Volume LII, Issue 4, 4 December 1931, Page 12

SLOTS AND SAFE FLYING

PILOTS’ CONTROL AMPLIFIED

Few 6ingle inventions in aviation of the last tew years have known tne almost 'universal adoption git’en. . t ? the Handley Page slots, a Dntisn wing device which has done much to divest heavier-tlian-air flying of greatest menace —the uncontrolled dive and spin following the “stall (or loss of flying speed). At the moment when the main wings are beginning to lose their <rnp on the air, when the angle of attach of the plane is nearing the critical point of steepness, the slots—-tiny wing-shaped auxiliary lifting surfaces which in normal flight- lie 6nugly against the front edges of the main wings —move outwards on cranks, in that position the slots have the curious property of restoring smoothness to the air-flow over the structure and, therefore, lift to the wings. . At first this device was invariably connected with the ailerons (or lateral controls) 'and operated mleckanically by movements of the control lever, but nowadays the type most generally employed works entirely automatically. Since the days when the big advance was made to automatic working the slotted wing has made great strides all over the world. Now a report issued by the Royal Aircraft Establishment speaks most highly of one of the more recent developments of the slot idea, the “interceptor,” or “spoiler,” which is employed, absurdly enough at first sight, to destroy the work of the slot at tain moments. The “interceptor’? is a thin flat plate which rises behind the slot on one wing or the other when the machine is performing certain evolutions, such as might frequently be employed during an aerial .“dog fight” btween two fast war planes. The action of the slot on that side of the machine is thus temporarily killed and the pilot’s control is very much amplified. Jbor example, the pilot may wish at any moment to pull his machine instantly out of a “stalled” attitude into a normal flying posture; the quicker lie can do so the greater is his chance of getting his adversary at a disadvantage, ihe combination of slot and “interceptor enables him to do so with certainty and safety. ... Developments of this kind may seem at first sight rather far removed from the interests of the ordinary commercial or private flyer. Improvement of aeroplane control is, however, a matter of vital importance in aviation. Much has been done, but something still remains for accomplishment; the “interceptor” represents one more step along the road to perfect and assured control at all speeds which aircraft designers have 'been treading since the beginning of aeroplane flight.