INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

LEADING EDGE DEVICES

The leading edge of an aircraft wing may be equipped with one or more devices or extensions
for various purposes: they are as follows:

•Cuffs
•Deicing boots
•Flaps, including droop flaps and Krueger flaps
•Leading edge root extensions (LERX)
•Slats
•Slots
•Stall strips
•Vortilon and vortex generators

CUFFS

-The leading-edge cuff is a wing leading-edge modification, usually a lightly drooped outboard
leading-edge extension. In most cases of outboard leading-edge modification, the wing cuff
starts about 50–70% half-span and spans the outer leading edge of the wing.
-A leading-edge cuff is a fixed aerodynamic wing device employed on fixed-wing aircraft in
order to improve the stall and spin characteristics.
-These Cuffs may be either factory-designed or an after-market add-on modification.

*The main goal is to produce a more gradual and gentler stall onset, without any spin departure
tendency, particularly where the original wing has a sharp/asymmetric stall behaviour with a
passive, non-moving, low-cost device that would have a minimal impact on performance. A
further benefit is to lowering stall speed, with lower approach speeds and shorter landing
distances. They may also, depending on cuff location, improve aileron control at low speed.

DEICING BOOTS

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Philippine State College of Aeronautics
Fernando Air Base, Lipa City, Batangas
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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

-A deicing boot is a type of ice protection system installed on aircraft surfaces to permit a
mechanical deicing in flight.
-Such boots are generally installed on the leading edges of wings and control surfaces (e.g.
horizontal and vertical stabilizer) as these areas are most likely to accumulate ice and any
contamination could severely affect the aircraft's performance.

FLAPS ( droop flaps and Krueger flaps )

What is a Flap ?
It is a high-lift device used to reduce the stalling speed of an aircraft wing at a given weight.
They are usually mounted on the wing trailing edges of a fixed-wing aircraft. It is also used to
reduce the take-off distance and the landing distance.

-The leading-edge droop flap is a device on the leading edge of aircraft wings designed to
improve airflow at high pitch angles (high angle of attack). The droop flap is similar to the
leading-edge slat and the Krueger flap, but with the difference that the entire leading edge
section rotates downwards, whereas the slat and Krueger flap are panels which move away
from the wing leading edge when it is deployed.

-The Krueger flaps are lift enhancement devices that may be fitted to the leading edge of an
aircraft wing. Unlike slats or droop flaps, the main wing upper surface and its nose is not
changed. Instead, a portion of the lower wing is rotated out in front of the main wing leading
edge.
-The current Boeing aircraft, and many other types of aircraft use this design between the
fuselage and closest engine, where the wing is thickest. While the outboard of the engine, slats
are used on the leading edge.
-The Boeing 727 also used a mix of inboard Krueger flaps and outboard slats, although it had no
engine between them. Most early jet airliners, such as the Boeing 707 and Boeing 747, used
Krueger flaps only.

Leading-edge root extension (LERX)

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Philippine State College of Aeronautics
Fernando Air Base, Lipa City, Batangas
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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

-It is a small fillet, typically roughly triangular in shape, running forward from the leading edge
of the wing root to a point along the fuselage. These are often called simply leading-edge
extensions (LEX), although they are not the only kind.

What does leading-edge extension mean ?

It is a small extension to an aircraft wing surface, forward of the leading edge. The primary
reason for adding an extension is to improve the airflow at high angles of attack and low
airspeeds, to improve handling and delay the stall.

-On a modern fighter aircraft LERXes induce controlled airflow over the wing at high angles of
attack, so delaying the stall and consequent loss of lift.
-In cruising flight the effect of the LERX is minimal. However at high angles of attack, as often
encountered during takeoff and landing, the LERX generates a high-speed vortex that attaches
to the top of the wing.
-The vortex action maintains the attachment of the airflow to the upper-wing surface well past
the normal stall point at which the airflow separates from the wing surface, thus sustaining lift
at very high angles.

Leading-edge slat or slats

-Slats are one of several high-lift devices used on airliners, such as flap systems running along
the trailing edge of the wing.
-Those are aerodynamic surfaces on the leading edge of the wings of fixed-wing aircraft which,
when deployed, allow the wing to operate at a higher angle of attack. A higher coefficient of lift
is produced as a result of angle of attack and speed, so by deploying slats an aircraft can fly at
slower speeds, or take off and land in shorter distances.
-They are usually used while landing or performing maneuvers which take the aircraft close to a
stall, but are usually retracted in normal flight to minimize drag. They decrease stall speed.

Leading-edge slot

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Philippine State College of Aeronautics
Fernando Air Base, Lipa City, Batangas
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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

-It is a fixed aerodynamic feature of the wing of some aircraft to reduce the stall speed and
promote good low-speed handling qualities.
-Also, an spanwise gap in each wing, allowing air to flow from below the wing to its upper
surface. In this manner they allow flight at higher angles of attack and thus reduce the stall
speed.

Stall strips

-These stall strips may be necessary for the airplane to comply with type certification
requirements.
-It is a small component fixed to the leading edge of the wing of an airplane to modify its
aerodynamic characteristics.
-It typically consists of a small piece of material, usually aluminium, triangular in cross section
and often 6-12 inches (15–30 cm) in length. It is riveted or bonded to the wing’s leading edge.
-Some airplanes have one stall strip on each wing. Some airplanes have only one stall strip on
one wing.

Vortilon and Vortex Generators

What is a Vortilon ?

-They are fixed aerodynamic devices on aircraft wings used to improve handling at low speeds.
-It consist of one or more flat plates attached to the underside of the wing near its leading edge,
aligned with the flight direction. When the speed is reduced and the aircraft approaches stall,
the local flow at the leading edge is diverted outwards; this spanwise component of velocity
around the vortilon creates a vortex streamed around the top surface, which energises the
boundary layer. A more turbulent boundary layer, in turn, delays the local flow separation.
-They are often used to improve low-speed aileron performance, thereby increasing resistance
to spin. They can be used as an alternative to wing fences, which also restrict airflow along the
span of the wing. Vortilons only stream vortices at high angles of attack and produce less drag
at higher speeds than wing fences.
What is a Vortex Generator ?

-They are most often used to delay flow separation through higher angles of attack.
-They are used to trigger this transition.

Institute of Engineering and Technology

Philippine State College of Aeronautics
Fernando Air Base, Lipa City, Batangas
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PHILIPPINE STATE COLLEGE OF AERONAUTICS

-In other devices such as vortilons, leading-edge extensions, and leading-edge cuffs, also delay
flow separation at high angles of attack by re-energizing the boundary layer.
-The vortex generator is an aerodynamic device, consisting of a small vane usually attached to a
lifting surface or airfoil, such as an aircraft wing or a rotor blade of a wind turbine. And
sometimes they may also be attached to some part of an aerodynamic vehicle such as an
aircraft fuselage.
-It is used on wing surfaces to energize boundary layers thereby avoiding separation and
extending the range of attached flow.

*Vortex generators act like a tiny wings and create mini wingtip vortices, which spiral through
the boundary layer and free-stream airflow. These vortices mix the high-energy free-stream air
into the lower energy boundary layer, allowing the airflow in the boundary layer to withstand
the adverse pressure gradient longer.

Institute of Engineering and Technology

Philippine State College of Aeronautics
Fernando Air Base, Lipa City, Batangas