Blown Flap
Blown flaps are a powered aerodynamic high-lift device invented by the British and used on the wings of certain aircraft to improve low-speed lift during takeoff and landing. The process is sometimes called a boundary layer control system (BLCS). They were a popular design feature in the 1960s, but fell from use due to their complex maintenance needs. Today a simpler version can be found on military transport aircraft, although the term is not widely used. Additionally, the early concepts have been built upon by modern engineers to create the circulation control wing, a far more effective device with applications in the modern aviation industry.
Famous quotes containing the words blown and/or flap:
“Repeat thy song, till the familiar lines
Are footpaths for the thought of Italy!
Thy flame is blown abroad from all the heights,
Through all the nations, and a sound is heard,
As of a mighty wind, and men devout,
Strangers of Rome, and the new proselytes,
In their own language hear thy wondrous word,
And many are amazed and many doubt.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)
“Let Sporus tremble—‘What? That thing of silk,
Sporus, that mere white curd of ass’s milk?
Satire or sense, alas, can Sporus feel,
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?’
Yet let me flap this bug with gilded wings,
This painted child of dirt, that stinks and stings;
Whose buzz the witty and the fair annoys,
Yet wit ne’er tastes, and beauty ne’er enjoys:”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)