Flap

Flaps are hinged surfaces on the trailing edge of an airplane wing which, when deployed, increase the lift (and drag) of a wing. They are usually used while landing to allow the aircraft to fly more slowly and to steepen the approach to the landing site.

Types include:

• Plain flap - rotates on a simple hinge
• Split flap -
• Fowler flap - slides backwards before hinging downwards
• Slotted flap -

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Flap, in (archaic) computer science jargon, refers to the process for unmounting a magnetic tape. When the system operator commanded a tape drive to unmount a tape, it would rewind the medium and then, as the tape unwrapped from the take-up reel, it would go "flap-flap-flap" as the feed reel spun down. Thus the term.