QUESTION:
What is the highest skin temperatures found at the nose, belly leading edges
of the wings of the shuttle during re-entry?

ANSWER from Mike Eggers on June 12, 1997:
The skin temperatures on the Orbiter don't get very high during re-entry (no
more than 85 degrees F) because the Orbiter has just left the very cold
vacuum of space, and the tiles are radiating the heat away.  During
re-entry, the highest temperature of the tile on the belly has been 1793
degrees F.  The highest temperature of the reinforced carbon-carbon nose cap
and wing leading edges has been 2590 degrees F and 2608 degrees F
respectively.

After re-entry, the tiles begin to transfer their heat to the Orbiter skin. 
The highest skin temperature on the belly has been 244 degrees F. The
highest skin temperatures at the nose and wing leading edges has been 109
degrees F and 110 degrees F respectively.

To answer your question about the body flap function, the body flap trims
out the Orbiter pitch and also supports the elevons for pitch trim.  The
body flap also protects the main engine bells from flow impingement.  The
body flap performs all these functions throughout re-entry, approach, and
landing.