High-lift device

In aircraft design and aerospace engineering, a high-lift device is a component or mechanism on an aircraft's wing that increases the amount of lift produced by the wing. The device may be a fixed component, or a movable mechanism which is deployed when required. Common movable high-lift devices include wing flaps and slats. Fixed devices include leading edge root extensions and boundary layer control systems, which are less commonly used.

The size and lifting capacity of a fixed wing is chosen as a compromise between differing requirements. For example, a larger wing will provide more lift and reduce the distance and speeds required for takeoff and landing, but will increase drag, which reduces performance during the cruising portion of flight. Modern passenger jet wing designs are optimized for speed and efficiency during the cruise portion of flight, since this is where the aircraft spends the vast majority of its flight time. High-lift devices compensate for this design trade-off by adding lift at takeoff and landing, reducing the distance and speed required to safely land the aircraft, and allowing the use of a more efficient wing in flight. The high-lift devices on the Boeing 747-400, for example, increase the wing area by 21% and increase the lift generated by 90%.

The most common high-lift device is the flap, a movable portion of the wing that can be lowered to produce extra lift. When a flap is lowered this re-shapes the wing section to give it more camber. Flaps are usually located on the trailing edge of a wing, while leading edge flaps are used occasionally. There are many kinds of trailing-edge flap.

Simple hinged flaps came into common use in the 1930s, along with the arrival of the modern fast monoplane which had higher landing and takeoff speeds than the old biplanes.

In the split flap, the lower surface hinges downwards while the upper surface remains either fixed to the wing or moves independently.

Travelling flaps also extend backwards, to increase the wing chord when deployed, increasing the wing area to help produce yet more lift. These began to appear just before World War II due to the efforts of many different individuals and organizations in the 1920s and 30s,

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