cgates66 From United States of America, joined Aug 2011, 2 posts, RR: 0 Posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 4089 times:
Long time lurker, new poster. I travel frequently and on two recent flights aboard a 757-200 I noticed that during cruise, the inboard flaps remained partially extended - perhaps 3 - 4 inches - for the entire duration of the flight. It occurred to me that this was unusual and I asked my carrier about it; they took my question seriously and said that it was normal for certain flight conditions. I've attached a photo.
Any 757 drivers out there who can elaborate on this? I was very surprised by this, as the wing when fully cleaned up should be optimized for cruise configuration. After landing, the flaps were fully retracted.
CplKlinger From United States of America, joined Oct 2010, 145 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 4070 times:
I think that this really isn't that the flaps are not retracted, rather that they aren't fitting as snugly as you think they should. At cruise speeds, flaps are set at 0, and the extension speeds for even the first setting are pretty low (less than 240 knts). The wing is clean, just not the mental pciture you probably had.
cgates66 From United States of America, joined Aug 2011, 2 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 4049 times:
That makes sense - although odd that they were completely snug on landing - oh you know what...I wonder if that's just wing flex...that WOULD make sense. Thanks for the time.
474218 From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 6340 posts, RR: 10 Reply 3, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 4006 times:
vikkyvik From United States of America, joined Jul 2003, 8226 posts, RR: 28 Reply 4, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 4002 times:
Are you talking about the gap visible there? It looks more like a horizontal gap than a vertical one. Either way, looks normal to me, just based on what I remember seeing out the window (haven't flown on a 757 in quite awhile!).
Also, the inboard section visible may not be a flap, but rather a high-speed aileron. Not sure if that's the case on 757s or not. May just be the flap directly behind the engine, and therefore only being single-slotted.
"Two and a Half Men" was filmed in front of a live ostrich.
XFSUgimpLB41X From United States of America, joined Aug 2000, 3958 posts, RR: 36 Reply 5, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 3993 times:
dlednicer From United States of America, joined May 2005, 506 posts, RR: 6 Reply 6, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 3962 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW DATABASE EDITOR
Several years ago, on a NW 757-300 flight to Hawaii, I noticed that the inboard spoiler I could see out my window was up a little bit while we were in cruise. This struck me as odd, so I wrote a message to this effect on the back of my business card and asked a flight attendant to take the note to the cockpit (my card identifies me as an aero engineer). The pilot came back and took a look. He confirmed that I was right and after looking out the other side, noted that they were deployed equally on both sides. He went back to the cockpit for a while. When he came back, he told me that he thought it was part of the Mach trim system, but he had never seen this before.
XFSUgimpLB41X From United States of America, joined Aug 2000, 3958 posts, RR: 36 Reply 7, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 3921 times:
I too noticed that about the spoiler years ago... It's just what it does.
474218 From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 6340 posts, RR: 10 Reply 8, posted (1 year 9 months 3 weeks 2 days 9 hours ago) and read 3869 times:
Quoting XFSUgimpLB41X (Reply 7): I too noticed that about the spoiler years ago... It's just what it does.
Spoiler float. Very common and not just on the 757.
AA737-823 From United States of America, joined Mar 2000, 5341 posts, RR: 11 Reply 9, posted (1 year 9 months 2 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 3251 times:
Most of these things (aside from spoiler float) are rigging issues. They're considered 'in tolerance,' and once an airframe settles, you're shooting yourself in the foot to try to tweak it out.
Also, each airframe is different- one 737-800 might not fly just like the next 737-800- and so flaps and things can be rigged to correct for a heavy wing, a roll tendency.... all sorts of things.
The gap visible in the original post photo is nowhere near four inches, I can tell you that much. I spend WAY too much time working on the wings to let that go- it's much closer to one inch, slightly below, in fact.
If the gap were four inches, you'd start to see some more odd behaviors, as the flight deck would be having a hard time keeping 'er level!
This gap is typically present after landing as well, wing flex or not. Maybe it was just positioned differently, but it typically doesn't completely disappear.
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