Thank you very much gents, your responses are much appreciated!
Itīs very nice to finally get the answers to some of these questions, even more so when itīs pros like you who provide those answers.
To get back to the dial-a-flap thingmie, could you guys please elaborate on it? What kind of experiences have you made with it, do you like it, do you hate it? Why, why not? Is it easy to make mistakes or is the system rather foolproof (of course that doesnīt necessarily mean itīs also pilot-proof... hehe
). How do you know when to select what angle? I sort of doubt it is a thing of experience, but flipping through charts to find out what angle is best doesnīt really sound too thrilling either, especially during those busy phases of flight. Does some computer tell you what angle would be optimal? If so, do you always stick to that suggestion or do you alter from it?
As you can probably tell, this entire dial-a-flap concept is really interesting to me, especially since no other aircraft outside the MDD family uses it. I am wondering why that is. Do the disadvantages outweigh the advantages? If that is the case, why did MDD stick to the concept for so long? And vice versa, if the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, why does no other manufacturer pick this idea up?
As for the drooping ailerons, I had no idea the MD-11 has these. Even worse, I have absolutely no idea what "drooping" is supposed to mean, my dictionary shows exactly zero entries for this term.
Am I right in assuming it means the ailerons lower a certain amount when flaps are selected, so they act as "mini-flaps"?