Flaps, at "short field" setting were needed for takeoff from carriers durrng WWII.

The modern jets need flaps on launch from the steam cats... even though the cat can accellerate a fully loaded aircraft for 0 to 120 knots in under 2 seconds... the heavilly loaded aircraft are still at the verge of stalling when they leave the deck.

Actualy, the catapaults could accellerate the aircraft more, but the pilots are on the edge of gray-out to black-out due to the forces in the launch as it is. They've clocked test load shots off of catapults in excess of 150 knots. (test loads don't have thier own jet engine's aiding the acceleration... and they are designed to be at least as hard to launch as any airplane you could hook to the catapult.)
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Flying around with flaps down... not a great idea. If yo want a working flap lever in your cockpit, connect it by linkage to the flap servo. (or drive it with a mcro servo Y-harnessed with the flaps)