current industry standards typically use a contraction ratio of approximately 1 300 to prevent the separation of the fan discharge airflow f 1 from an interior wall 59 of the fan cowl 46 but other contraction ratios may be feasible u201c thick u201d inlet lip section designs which are associated with large contraction ratios increase the maximum diameter and increase the weight and the drag penalties associated with the nacelle assembly 26 the nacelle assembly 26 further defines an inlet lip length l lip and a fan duct length l fan increasing the fan discharge airflow f 1 during specific flight conditions allows the external airflow f 2 to remain separation free from the fan cowl 46 while achieving a slim line nacelle design in one example the increased fan discharge airflow f 1 is achieved by providing the gas turbine engine 10 with a vafn 30 and increasing the discharge airflow area 36 of the vafn 30 during the specific flight conditions in one example the increase in the discharge airflow area 36 is achieved by opening the vafn 30 for example the vafn 30 generally includes a synchronizing ring 41 a static ring 43 and a flap assembly 45 see fig3 other vafn designs and actuation mechanisms may be used the flap assembly 45 is pivotally mounted to the static ring 43 at a multitude of hinges 47 and linked to the synchronizing ring 41 through a linkage 49 an actuator assembly 51 only one shown in fig3 selectively rotates the synchronizing ring 41 relative the static ring 43 to adjust the flap.