Wouldn't it be better to use no flaps, and rotate at the higher speed that is required?

Well, now we are talking about a short field take off. If you ever watched Lindbergh's takeoff the day of the famous journey across the Atlantic non-stop flight, barely clearing a power line on climb out, or even actually done one off a muddy or snowy runway, you know the answer to this question.

Most take-offs are done with flaps up because an aircraft will produce more lift per given amount of thrust (drag) " clean ". Key to this is reaching the speed where the wing can be set to its optimal Lift to Drag ratio AOA and also be going fast enough to produce adequate lift.

Cambering up a wing makes it a better lifter, giving the ability to get the plane off the ground at a lower speed, but at the expense of more drag (read thrust and drag interchangably).

Notice the same effect can be achieved by increasing the coefficient of lift of an unflapped wing by raising the AOA past optimal L/D ratio, but the risk is, especially with wings that stall at a lower AOA, the power on stall!

So if the runway is covered with take-off roll drag producing items such as mud or snow, or simply is not long enough to reach flaps up takeoff speed, we use some flaps and slats to get airborne and climbing as soon as possible.

Once airborne, it is generally best to retract flaps and climb out Vy, unless that obstacle needs to be cleared, then we use the less efficient Vx.

Increasing camber (and AOA) does increase amount of lift at a given speed, but will require a proportionally greater amount of thrust. A bigger or turbocharged engine helps here, along with careful monitoring of airspeed.

Wouldn't it be better to use no flaps, and rotate at the higher speed that is required?

Well, now we are talking about a short field take off. If you ever watched Lindbergh's takeoff the day of the famous journey across the Atlantic non-stop flight, barely clearing a power line on climb out, or even actually done one off a muddy or snowy runway, you know the answer to this question.

Many take-offs are done with flaps up because an aircraft will produce more lift per given amount of thrust (drag) " clean ". Key to this is reaching the speed where the wing can be set to its optimal Lift to Drag ratio AOA and also be going fast enough to produce adequate lift.

Cambering up a wing makes it a better lifter, giving the ability to get the plane off the ground at a lower speed, but at the expense of more drag (read thrust and drag interchangably).

Notice the same effect can be achieved by increasing the coefficient of lift of an unflapped wing by raising the AOA past optimal L/D ratio, but the risk is, especially with wings that stall at a lower AOA, the power on stall!

So if the runway is covered with take-off roll drag producing items such as mud or snow, or simply is not long enough to reach flaps up takeoff speed, we use some flaps and slats to get airborne and climbing as soon as possible.

Once airborne, it is generally best to retract flaps and climb out Vy, unless that obstacle needs to be cleared, then we use the less efficient Vx.

Increasing camber (and AOA) does increase amount of lift at a given speed, but will require a proportionally greater amount of thrust. A bigger or turbocharged engine helps here, along with careful monitoring of airspeed.

Wouldn't it be better to use no flaps, and rotate at the higher speed that is required?

Well, now we are talking about a short field take off. If you ever watched Lindbergh's takeoff the day of the famous journey across the Atlantic non-stop flight, barely clearing a power line on climb out, or even actually done one off a muddy or snowy runway, you know the answer to this question.

Most take-offs are done with flaps up because an aircraft will produce more lift per given amount of thrust (drag) " clean ". Key to this is reaching the speed where the wing can be set to its optimal Lift to Drag ratio AOA and also be going fast enough to produce adequate lift.

Cambering up a wing makes it a better lifter, giving the ability to get the plane off the ground at a lower speed, but at the expense of more drag (read thrust and drag interchangably).

Notice the same effect can be achieved by increasing the coefficient of lift of an unflapped wing by raising the AOA past optimal L/D ratio, but the risk is, especially with wings that stall at a lower AOA, the power on stall!

So if the runway is covered with take-off roll drag producing items such as mud or snow, or simply is not long enough to reach flaps up takeoff speed, we use some flaps and slats to get airborne and climbing as soon as possible.

Once airborne, it is generally best to retract flaps and climb out Vy, unless that obstacle needs to be cleared, then we use the less efficient Vx.

Increasing camber (and AOA) does increase amount of lift at a given speed, but will require a proportionally greater amount of thrust. A bigger or turbocharged engine helps here, along with careful monitoring of airspeed.

Wouldn't it be better to use no flaps, and rotate at the higher speed that is required?

Well, now we are talking about a short field take off. If you ever watched Lindbergh's takeoff the day of the famous journey across the Atlantic non-stop flight, barely clearing a power line on climb out, or even actually done one off a muddy or snowy runway, you know the answer to this question.

Most take-offs are done with flaps up because an aircraft will produce more lift per given amount of thrust (drag) " clean ". Key to this is reaching the speed where the wing can be set to its optimal Lift to Drag ratio AOA and also be going fast enough to produce adequate lift.

Cambering up a wing makes it a better lifter, giving the ability to get the plane off the ground at a lower speed, but at the expense of more drag (read thrust and drag interchangably).

Notice the same effect can be achieved by increasing the coefficient of lift of an unflapped wing by raising the AOA past optimal L/D ratio, but the risk is, especially with wings that stall at a lower AOA, the power on stall!

So if the runway is covered with take-off roll drag producing items such as mud or snow, or simply is not long enough to reach flaps up takeoff speed, we use some flaps and slats to get airborne and climbing as soon as possible.

Once airborne, it is generally best to retract flaps and climb out Vy, unless that obstacle needs to be cleared, then we use the less efficient Vx.

Increasing camber (and AOA) does increase amount of lift at a given speed, but will require a proportionally greater amount of thrust. A bigger or turbocharged engine helps here, along with careful monitoring of airspeed.