High DA Flap Settings?

[poadeleted20]

OK then, glad I asked. Is that an OWT, then?

Yes, it is. After a few thousand hours in Grummans, many of which were in the right seat giving training, I've come to the conclusion that the reason for this OWT is that many Grumman pilots do not rotate the nose sufficiently steep to achieve a "textbook" short-field takeoff without flaps -- typically about 7-10 degrees instead of the 12 degrees needed to lift off at book liftoff speed. As a result, while they may rotate at the book liftoff speed, the insufficient angle of attack means they use more runway accelerating to a speed where they have enough lift to lift off and end up lifting off at well above the book initial climb speed.

With flaps, half the wing has a greater incidence angle, so they get enough lift to get airborne at that lower-than-desired pitch attitude sooner than the same attitude with zero flaps. However, they pay for that with reduced climb angle after liftoff. OTOH, if they rotate all the way to that necessary 12-degree nose-up attitude (which looks pretty darn steep) upon reaching book short-field rotation speed, they get airborne sooner and climb better than with flaps.