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Originally Posted by tgrayson  I don't feel that explanations using analogies such as this fairly communicate the nature of maneuvering speed. The implication is that heavier aircraft in a particular level of turbulence have an absolute greater protection from exceeding the load factor limit. This is not true. It depends on how fast it's travelling, which is not true of your cork or lumber.
The effect of the greater weight rests on the resultant AOA of the main wing.
If you have an aircaft of, say, 2000 lbs, it might be cruising at a 3 degree AOA. This aircraft may stall at 18 degrees AOA. If it encounters an severe updraft, then this aircraft might pull 18/3 = 6 g's before the wing stalls. This exeeds the ultimate load factor on the airplane; you may have structural failure.
If this same airplane were twice as heavy at the same airspeed, it would be flying at a 6 degree angle of attack. If it encounters a severe updraft, it can generate, at most, a 18/6=3g load factor before it stalls, which it can handle easily.
So the better explanation as to how weight affects maneuvering speed is it limits how much excess lift the wing can generate. |
You try going into what you just wrote with a primary student and see how much luck you have. Hell go into that with someone who has been flying a little bit and see how much luck you have. Give 'em the analogy so they have something to picture and then you can build on it.
Instructing isn't about proving how intelligent you are to the student. It's about getting sometimes tough, always foreign, concepts into the students' brains at a level they understand and can build on.
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Like I said .. a very quick explanation.
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