We’ve long been of the opinion that lower stall speeds are a good thing when it comes to safety of flight. It’s our observation that pilots are less likely to inadvertently stall airplanes that have low stall speeds, and if they do so, having less energy to absorb on impact means more chance of surviving the error.
The Peterson’s Performance Plus King Katmai, is the most recent conversion from the fertile mind of Todd Peterson, expanding on his line of STOL mods of the Cessna 182. It is a descendant of the Wren 460 which was an airplane with a stunning 27-knot stall speed. The King Katmai has a stall speed 4 knots faster, but, as a tradeoff, has twice the rate of climb and a few hundred pounds more useful load. As such, it has become a darling of the back-country pilot set, with a waiting list to get one and the few that come onto the used market getting snatched up quickly.