Combat flaps

[jim]

Late war japanese fighters used "combat flaps" to achieve greater manouverability. As far as i know these were essentiely Fowler type flaps strenghed for higher speeds . They were activated in varius ways. N1K usad automatic activation , J2M used a button on the stick, Ki 84 i am not sure how. Anyway even Anglosaxons pilots admitted that they were effective. Another aircraft that used such a system was Firefly, even for economic cruise. P38L also used combat flaps and the Americans claimed great results, but i am not sure if it was the same system.
The only disadvantage that i see is some weight penalty.
Why such a solution was not used in European fighters? What disavdvantages can you see? Could be combined with slats ( similar to modern passengers aircrafts, althouh modern passengers wings are designed for higher speeds)?
Strong wings ,such as FW190s, G55s,Re2005s, Ta152Hs , in theory could use such a system.
Thank you in advance

 

[bobbysocks]

us fighters in the eto did use flaps in the same manner and to good result.. at least the mustangs did...i cannot say what others did. go to the site below and scroll down until you see the heading "USE OF FLAPS IN COMBAT"

Mustang Encounter Reports

 

[Shortround6]

The use of flaps is going to increase drag. In some cases the "combat" setting was only 8^ or so compared to the 30,40 or even 80 degrees used for landing so the drag was much less than in landing configuration. Slats increase drag slightly, but slats only provide higher lift at angles of attack that approach or exceed the normal stall point. A plane flying at a 13-16^ angle of attack has pretty high drag to begin with and going to higher angles of attack really moves the lift drag ratio around.

 

[buffnut453]

Manoeuvre flaps weren't just used on late-war Japanese fighters. The Ki-43 was also fitted with them but they were wired shut on the front-line because they didn't offer a noticeable improvement in manoeuvreability.

 

[davparlr]

The "modern" F-5 has maneuvering flap controls which are effective, I believe. I would not be surprised if other modern aircraft have this feature programmed into their flight control system.