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Old 14th November 2010 | 21:52
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Prober
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: New Forest
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Quinten A, I admire your enquiring mind. I spent many wonderful hours flying the Trident (HS25) which had a very good example of Leading Edge 'lift enhancement', otherwise known as the Droop. I am not of a theoretical turn of mind, unlike the admirable M(Flt)S or Genghis, but I would commend something quite different to your attention. Have you ever plucked a chicken? If so, you will be aware of the strange lumps on the front (leading edge) of the wings. These are muscles and there is, somewhere, a marvellous film of pigeons landing and demonstrating that these muscles are, in fact, leading edge droop. The pigeons extend them a fraction of a second before landing, thus delaying the stall until required. It is absolutely fascinating and I have often wondered whether the designers of the system were aware that they were, in fact, copying something already designed by 'mother nature' long before man ever even dreamed of flying. I am sure that an inclusion of this fact would add an extra - and possibly unexpected - dimension to your thesis. Good luck.
Prober
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