So I have been flying the classic birds around in Expert Server for a while now and I have realized something odd.
The flaps of these birds, I feel that they dont even have flap physics. They act more like airbrakes.
I have tested this claim to see if it is true and indeed it is.
First I tried taking off with flaps deployed and for the second one with no flaps deployed.
The result? There is no difference of taking off with flaps or no flaps. But I did see this: taking off with flaps required more power from the engines than it would with no flaps deployed.
So I am concerned. Why do the flaps act more like airbrakes than they do as flaps?
Really I do not know if this is how a DC-10 or MD-11 really flies but it is kind of odd.
I have been flying the OAI DC-10-30 for a while, and I was actually about to make a post about this.
The DC-10 has an incredibly thick and stubby wing with huge flaps. Flaps 50 (which is way too much flaps for most any situation) works as a really effective speed brake, and I have been doing some tactical approaches into Baghdad and Kabul to test this theory- 7000ft AGL, Flaps 50, gear, speed brakes. At 3 miles from the runway you drop the nose down and it falls like a brick, you end up a mile out on the glideslope going slower than before initiating the -6000FPM descent.
That being said, although fun, I highly doubt the DC-10 has performance rivaling the C-17 in real life.
Generally it seems that the DC-10 has an unusual amount of flaws for an aircraft this new, it is as if the Devs simply shrunk the MD-11 took off the winglets and called it a day.
The change in wing shape with flaps deployed means that the coefficient of drag increases. Although the coefficient of lift will also increase, the aircraft will require more thrust to achieve the same airspeed.
