Why do you believe electric retractable slats are better than automatic slats which open and close as needed when the AoA calls for them?
There are a lot of reasons I can think of, but this photo of a CRJ 700 speed card does a great job of explaining why slats on demand can truly change your operating envelope and enhance safety in the backcountry.
At 75,000 pounds you can see how impactful flaps 0 to flaps 1 is when talking about the minimum maneuvering speed and final approach speed. Flaps 0 to flaps 1 means the slats move out 20 degrees, while the flaps stay retracted. We have a resulting 16 knot reduction in minimum maneuvering speed and a 16 knot speed reduction for final approach speed. This is truly game changing!
Electric slats allow you to place them far enough ahead, and below the leading edge of the wing to maximize their coefficient of lift increase on the airfoil. The Norden has a slight advantage over the Helio in this regard.
In speaking again about the Norden, deploying the electric slats on final approach means you can approach at a slower airspeed by the physical increase in wing area but more importantly a flat AOA while doing so with a windscreen that was designed around this. Slower approach speeds with better visibility is a huge win for off airport operations. The slats also perfectly counter balance the forward pitching moment created by the massive double slotted flaps creating an impressive “umbrella” looking effect when everything is fully deployed. The beautiful part about this increase in wing area is increased margin above a maneuvering stall speed as well as preventing a stall spin scenario in a no go around situation.
The reason I’m not a fan of the spring slats are because of their variability in operation. See this video here.
https://youtu.be/tKCRuNYDOh4
Can you imagine if an airliner’s various slat panels were bouncing in and out on takeoff and climb out or worse yet on landing? Those numbers are only valid with the slats in a fixed position. Your stall margin would not be dependable.
Another reason for electric retractable slats is that you can configure them exactly how you’d like per flight conditions. The CRJ 700 uses 20 degree slats for takeoff and 25 degree slats for landing. If you found yourself in a gusty, crosswind condition a no slat takeoff may be desirable.
The Norden’s slats are controlled via push buttons on the stick where aileron trim might be located. Pushing the right button in deploys them with a maximum deployment interval of around 3 seconds. This could become an issue when trying to trim on a go around but I personally love they are disconnected from the flaps.
Some of the negatives are complexity in design and added weight, but I think those are more than made up in increased safety and enhanced operating envelope.