Definition
The current setting of the wing flaps, expressed either as a degree of deflection (e.g., 10°, 20°, 40°) or by a named detent (e.g., UP, APPROACH, LANDING), indicating how far the flaps are extended from the wing.
Plain English
How far the flaps are currently lowered from the wing, usually shown as a number of degrees or a labeled setting like UP, APPROACH, or LANDING.
Context Anchor
Seen in terrain alerting system descriptions, landing configuration checks, cockpit flap indicators, and approach-to-landing procedures.
Derivation
Flap comes from an old English word connected with something that moves back and forth. Position comes from Latin words meaning placement. Together, the phrase points to the placed or set angle of the flaps, not just the fact that the airplane has flaps.
Why Pilots Care
Terrain systems use flap position to distinguish normal landing configurations from potential terrain conflicts and avoid nuisance alerts.
Intuition Check
Do not read position here as the physical location of the flap on the wing. In this context, flap position means the flap setting: up, partly extended, or fully extended.
Example Sentence 1
On final approach, the pilot confirmed the flap position was set to LANDING before crossing the runway threshold.
Example Sentence 2
The terrain system suppressed a warning once it detected the approach flap position on short final.