ORIGINAL: ozspit
Ok. Lots more experience flying the real thing out there than me with 8 lessons! It's been a while too so my memory of what actually happens is a bit vague! [&:]
So.... when flaps are deployed and the plane balloons it pitches up, not just gains altitude at the same pitch. I believe you guys with heaps of flying but why? If the CG is forward of the CL, an increase in lift, given the moment arm should pitch the nose down while gaining altitude. Thus the nose down attitude with flaps extended so I thought. Is there something else happening or is my thinking just plain wrong?
When you deploy flaps, you change the shape of the wing. One effect is more lift, which, at the current speed, translates into a balloon in altitude. The second effect, is a change in the centre of lift. This varies in different machines, which determines the pitching effect. If the CL moves back, the nose will pitch down for example. On the B737, as one took 40 flap, one had to push to stop the balloon, and start trimming
back for the situation
after the balloon settled down. Strange as it seems, you were pushing one way, and trimming another because you knew from experience what lay ahead required back trim.