meleagertoo , the Hunter has 8 notches of flap. 2 notches corresponds to 23 deg flap and 4 notched corresponds to 38 deg flap. More than 4 notches is unlikely to be used for anything except landing.
It was very common indeed to fly loops at lower speed using 2 notches - all students were taught this. Also in ACM we often flew with full power, one hand on the control column and the other on the flap selector as judicious use of flap helped instantaneous pitch rate.