Pup wrote:Funny, I was just checking the regs for the same thing - I don't see anything that says you can't have a single wing section; and if you only have one, I don't see anything that disqualifies it from being the section that's moved.
3.18.1 third dash demands that if you want to move part of the wing, you must have exactly 2 closed sections.
I'm more curious if something clever couldn't be done with the location of the pivot point. The regs seem to assume that the pivot is always located within the section itself, but I don't think they specifically state that it has to be. That is, you might be able to bracket the wing at the endplates and set the pivot point farther back or higher than the regs assume you could. Again, without having put much thought into it, I don't know what the benefit would be.
That's an interesting point, I don't see anything banning having an upper flap that's essentially long chord, in that it's a long way from the pivot to the front, but also short chord in that there's not much surface on it. I don't know what you'd gain though – it would seem that would get all the disadvantages of both wouldn't it?