Default Lear

[Brett_Henderson]

Yeah.. I'm a notorious thread hijacker  ::)..  it's just that the instructor in me can't help himself

Maneuvering speed is a structural thing.. and it's a maximun. If you're going to be doing steep turns or anything else that might stress the airframe.. Va is not to be exceeded.

The curious thing about it is, that Va actually increases as the airplane's weight increases. Instinctually, you'd think otherwise, but further thought confirms it. The inertia of more mass, makes drastic directional changes less possible..  ;)

[packercolinl]

I don't mind the hijacking at all,I just thought I would remind us of why we were here originally and let those who moderate know we haven't totally lost the plot

And I can understand the physics and no drastic actions were initiated during that flight,in fact on that point I think I disappointed the instructor.

We were positioning to join the circuit and he told me where and at what height he wanted the aircraft before I made a turn. I started to descend and about thirty seconds later he said "You can get there anyway you like".

So I did. But I got the impression he wanted me to stand the thing on its nose.

Col