What happens to stall speed as weight increases in an aircraft?

As weight increases, the stall speed of an aircraft also increases. This is due to the fundamental relationship between weight and lift. The stall speed is the minimum speed at which an aircraft can maintain level flight and is dependent on the wing's lift characteristics and the aircraft's weight.

When an aircraft's weight increases, the wings must generate more lift to counteract the increased weight in order to keep the aircraft in level flight. According to the lift equation ( L = \frac{1}{2} \rho V^2 S C_L ), where L is lift, ( \rho ) is air density, V is true airspeed, S is wing area, and ( C_L ) is the lift coefficient, an increase in weight (L) requires an increase in the lift generated at any given airspeed. If the lift coefficient stays constant (as it typically does until the wing is nearing its stall angle), the aircraft needs to fly faster to achieve the additional lift required to counterbalance the increase in weight.

Thus, the stall speed increases with an increase in weight, indicating that the aircraft must reach a higher indicated airspeed (IAS) to avoid stalling. Therefore, as weight goes up, both the stall speed and