Leading Edge Slats on the Me-109

[Crumpp]

Even in a very tight turn the stall was quite gentle, with no tendency for the aircraft to suddenly flick over on to its back and spin.

Right.

Obviously folks do not understand how the LE devices work. Many people would benefit from reading chapter 19 of a book called "Stick and Rudder" by Wolfgang Langewiesche.

It would eliminate all the stupid arguments on these boards.

http://www.amazon.com/Stick-Rudder-E.../dp/0070362408

Handley Page automatic slats equipped aircraft have unique and non-traditional stall characteristics as a result.

The stall was quite gentle because of the LE Slats. The effect of the slats is to increase the angle of attack the stall occurs at by energizing the boundary layer behind the slat.

The slats on the outboard and the inboard wing is not slotted. This means the inboard portion will ALWAYS stall at a lower Angle of Attack. With the inboard wing stalled, it no longer produces the lift required to raise the nose and increase the outboard portion of the wing that is slotted to the stall Angle of Attack.

It acts like training wheels, automatically countering an asymmetrical stall so that depending on the CG location, no amount of rudder input at the stall point will cause a spin.

Today, slats for spin proofing have fallen out of favor and given way to cuffed wing designs. The aerodynamic effect is the same but the cuffs offer the advantage of a constant drag picture without the complexity of the automatic slat. Drag forces increase with the slat deployment as lift and drag are connected linked by a fixed relationship.