Right you are Hagar.....I'll call it a draw and let the dust settle as everyone else lets this soak in.......not everyone can understand the basic principles that birds use to fly..........Damn birds, don't even have an inkling of what scientific stuff they are dealing with.....they just fly !

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This is essentially correct, but flaps never spoil lift.....that occurs on the upper surface of the wing as the airflow becomes turbulent due to some intrusion into the airflow (spoilers) or the critical angle of attack being exceeded and flow separation occurs........this increase in high drag may overpower the ability of the wing to support its load, but the flaps are not "spoiling the lift".....the flaps, themself, are sort of "after the fact" of the wings ability to generate lift.......

Now you've done it! I'm going to have to go and read all that stuff now

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I will just correct this point. A delta wing is the most intable type of wing at low speed!!!
If you need proof I wil tell you to look why the deltadaggers has been retired from the navy after only 7 month of operation. delta wing is the only one form of wing that permit mach1 and 2. so it is an obligation for concorde and now most of military aircraft. but those aircraft got high approch speed. the F4 phantomII was a very difficult plane at cat launch and for carrier approch. and today it is always difficult for delta wing pilot. at last concorde was the plan with the highert take off and landing speed

this could go on all night

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I worded it really badly. I ment gravity. I'm sure you guys aren't that stupid to not know what I ment. 
On the subject of 15-20 degrees. I read this in a British model aviation magazine on flap setup for computer radios. It came with a fancy chart showing that 15-20 degree flaps produced peak lift. Anywhere above that angle, the plane will begin to show and therefore sink. My scanner isn't working due to problems with my SCSI card so try to imagine the chart. The X-Axis represents flap angle and the Y-Axis represents lift. The chart is skewed such that it shows peak lift at 15 degrees. I should note that although the airplane is much smaller than real ones, the physical principles remain the same. 20 degrees is generally accepted for props while 15-25 is generally accepted for jets, note the guages in FS for proof.

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Careful now.......if you are inferring that we should have the ability to read your mind when you say one thing and mean another, thats a job for Kreskin......but then even if some of us could do that, we may not like short stories..........        

As far as the numbers which you quote from that chart,  they are specifics and would be subject to variations in Chord, Thickness, and actual airfoil profile........the fact is, that any intrusion into the slipstream of a "clean" wing, is going to introduce drag, which will inevitably slow, but not necessarily increase sink, unless power is reduced and airspeed diminishes, and the zero-lift angle of that particular airfoil is exceeded...........once this occurs, the nose of the airfoil drops, speed increases until the drag matches the input thrust ( descent rate due to gravity) and you can acheive balanced flight once again, but in a descending flight path..........excessive deployment of flap will at some point, introduce more drag than lift and its at this point, that the power requirements are raised to avoid slowing the flight to the point of loss of control surface effectiveness immediately followed by a stalled flying surface..........loss of altitude is imminent........ 8)  8)

Well AstroGeek, there's plenty here who know far more than me. I've been fascinated with flight since the age of 6 & been flying models of one type or another ever since. What with that & working in the aircraft industry for 40 years something is bound to stick. My memory is failing & I've forgotten more than I can remember now.

I should have learned by now to keep out of these technical discussions. When I see someone say something I know is wrong I just can't help myself.