Which stall speed is lower: takeoff or landing?

Which stall speed is lower: takeoff or landing?

• A. 40 KIAS
• B. 60 KIAS
• C. 36 KIAS
• D. 52 KIAS

Answer: (C)

Stall speed depends on how the wing is configured and how much weight the airplane is carrying. When you’re on approach and ready to land, the wing is configured with flaps extended, which increases the lift the wing can produce at a given angle of attack. That means you can fly at a lower airspeed before the wing reaches the critical angle of attack and stalls. In takeoff, the flaps are not as extended and the wing isn’t optimized for that low-speed regime, so the stall occurs at a higher airspeed. So the stall speed in landing configuration is lower than in takeoff configuration.

Stall speed depends on how the wing is configured and how much weight the airplane is carrying. When you’re on approach and ready to land, the wing is configured with flaps extended, which increases the lift the wing can produce at a given angle of attack. That means you can fly at a lower airspeed before the wing reaches the critical angle of attack and stalls. In takeoff, the flaps are not as extended and the wing isn’t optimized for that low-speed regime, so the stall occurs at a higher airspeed. So the stall speed in landing configuration is lower than in takeoff configuration.