One of the most influential cockpit levers on a jet’s take-off is the flap handle. Hinged panels at the wing’s trailing and leading edges transform a sleek airfoil into a low-speed lift sail.

Question: If flaps don’t increase lift, then why is a small amount of flaps used in soft-field takeoffs for some aircraft? Answer: Who said flaps don’t increase lift? Flaps do increase lift. Reference ...

A: Flaps (and slats) increase the lift that the wing can produce at a lower speed. To keep the takeoff and landing speeds as low as possible, the design engineers include highly efficient flaps (and ...

On a warm summer morning at Princeton University, aerospace engineer Aimy Wissa was at the university helipad, preparing to fly a remote-controlled plane. But this wasn’t just any model aircraft.

Gen-6 cars took damage at Preseason Thunder crash, but no tires left the ground CONCORD, N.C. — Aric Almirola didn’t immediately feel his car decelerate. He didn’t hear the flaps deploy on the roof of ...