Airplanes must have gentle, predictable stall characteristics for the sake of both safety and certification. So what happens when flight testing reveals that the airplane has a bad temper with stalls? One technique is to add stall strips.
In an ideal stall situation, airflow separates first at the wing root and gradually moves out as the stall deepens. This gives the pilot some aileron authority in the stall, which can be useful if a wing drops or if the aircraft is in a turn. Stall strips help this process. By affixing small triangular strips to the front of the wing near the wing root, the engineer is able to create an area where airflow separates at a lower angle of attack than the rest of the wing. Placing them near the root can ensure that it stalls first.
In rarer cases, a stall strip can be added only to one wing if the airplane is prone to drop one wing more than the other in a stall. By hastening the stall, the airplane becomes more docile and predictable.
I knew the solo was coming. My instructor and I did three takeoffs and landings. He had me taxi to an FBO where he sent me off to do three takeoffs and landings on my own. I was very nervous, but once I added the throttle and made the calls “airspeed is live, gauges are in the green” and called out my airspeeds, the nervousness went away. It was a beautiful day to fly and I couldn’t ask for a better time to do so.
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