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Originally Posted by Therrin  ... The Mig has hydraulic air brakes on either side of the fuselage towards the rear. That's gotta be something, punch those babys and dip the front end.... helluva way to slow yourself down... |
The Fowler flaps on Cessnas have a similar "Barn Door" effect when fully extended. I did quite a bit of banner towing and this means landing trailing 300' of rope. The technique on shorter strips is to drop it in (clearing the fence with the rope!).
A high approach, then after going to full flaps (maximum extension) then mashing the rudder to set the airplane sideways into the relative wind, called a "slip" it dramatically increases drag as you present the entire side of the airplane into the wind.
The nose pitches down sharply as you blank out the horizontal stabilizer in the burble of air created from the flaps. This is placarded (a warning plate riveted to the "dashboard") against, even in the few aerobatic Cessnas. But it causes a vertical drop, and a very nose down attitude.
Impressive for passengers, who think you have lost control and are about to crash. Flairing out at the end makes the landing more like a modern parachute landing, useful and fun for short fields and long ropes.
Aerial