Take a look at an older-model backcountry airplane such as a Piper Super Cub or a Cessna 180, and you might notice something peculiar: a thin piece of metal mounted on each side of the fuselage in front of the horizontal stabilizer.
The tail strake looks like a little fin and was developed in the 1990s as a modification for backcountry airplanes. It is one part of a kit that includes vortex generators. (The tail strake is mounted horizontally on the rear fuselage, while the vortex generators are mounted vertically on top the thickest part of the wings.) Think of the tail strake and vortex generators “like mini wing tips,” said CubCrafters President Pat Horgan, whose company sells the kits. These mini wing tips create vortices and reenergize the air flowing over the surface of the wing and horizontal stabilizer; this keeps the air attached longer to those surfaces.
The kit can improve controllability at slow speeds and reduce stall speeds on aircraft that are rigged properly and operated within their limitations. That’s why the modifications are predominantly seen on aircraft that fly in the backcountry, where they need to fly at slower approach speeds to get into and out of short, remote airstrips.
New backcountry airplanes have been designed so that they no longer need a tail strake. Vortex generators, however, continue to be a common modification on many aircraft. You might even find them on top of the wings of your trainer.
