Well said Dunbar.
Bring the flap up? That's a cool idea... NOT! There you are sat at the correct speed for the configuration and you then bring the flap in a notch to reduce the drag... you'll then put yourself even closer to the stall!
Let's be clear about this, we've all sat at home in a comfortable armchair with a Gin and Tonic and had all the time in the world to think about this incident... John didn't have that luxury!