of the Philippine Air Force STOL aircraft come in configurations such as
bush planes,
autogyros, and
taildraggers, and those such as the
de Havilland Canada Dash-7 that are designed for use on conventional airstrips. The
PAC P-750 XSTOL, the
Daher Kodiak, the
de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter and the
Wren 460 have STOL capability, needing a short ground roll to get airborne, but are capable of a near-zero ground roll when landing. with tilting STOL nozzles For any plane, the required
runway length is a function of the square of the
stall speed (minimum flying speed), and much design effort is spent on minimizing this number. For
takeoff, large
power/weight ratios and low
drag help the plane to accelerate for flight. For landing, the length is minimized by strong
brakes, low landing speed, and
thrust reversers or
spoilers. Overall STOL performance is set by the longer of the runway needed to land or take off. with German
Luftwaffe markings Of equal importance to runway length is the ability to clear obstacles, such as hills, beyond the runway. For takeoff, large
power/weight ratios and low drag increase the rate of climb – required to clear obstacles. For landing, high drag allows the plane to descend steeply without building speed, which would require a longer ground run. Drag is increased by use of
flaps on the wings and by
forward slip (causing the plane to fly somewhat sideways to increase drag). Typically, a STOL aircraft has a large
wing for its weight. These wings may use
aerodynamic devices like flaps,
slots,
slats, and
vortex generators. Typically, achieving excellent STOL performance reduces maximum speed, but not
payload ability. The payload is critical, because many small, isolated communities rely on STOL aircraft as their only link to the outside world for passengers or cargo; examples include many communities in the
Canadian north and
Alaska. Most STOL aircraft can
land either on- or off-airport. Typical off-airport landing areas include snow or ice (using skis), fields or gravel riverbanks (often using special fat, low-pressure
tundra tires), and water (using
floats): these areas are often short and obstructed by trees or hills. Wheel skis and amphibious floats combine wheels with
skis or floats, allowing landing on snow/water. In 2025 the Electra prototype aircraft demonstrated take-off in less than 35 mph combining eight electric motors along the front edge of its wings with large
blown flaps at the rear edge. == STOL Military Aircraft ==