During the past few years an extensive amount of experimental data on split flaps has been made available to the aircraft industry, through the publications of aeronautical research laboratories, both in this country and abroad. In general, each publication deals with one particular aspect of the problem, and when the effect of wing flaps on the performance of an aircraft is being estimated a certain amount of difficulty may be experienced in deciding which of the many reports available gives results most readily applicable to the case being considered ; and what allowances, if any, should be made for wing taper, flap cut-out, fuselage, etc.

In this report the available data has been analysed with a view to answering these questions, and presented in such a form that it may be readily applied to determine the most probable change in the aerodynamic characteristics of a wing that may be expected from the use of this type of flap.

From the appendix an estimate of the accuracy of the method can be obtained, as a comparison with full-scale data is given for lift and drag, and for the other flap characteristics the original curves have been reproduced.