Comments on: V speeds https://lahso.megginson.com/2006/02/12/v-speeds/ Flying a small plane. Fri, 14 Apr 2006 17:46:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Bill Crawford https://lahso.megginson.com/2006/02/12/v-speeds/#comment-304 Fri, 14 Apr 2006 17:46:23 +0000 http://www.megginson.com/blogs/lahso/archives/2006/02/12/v-speeds/#comment-304 I was searching the effect of center of gravity on aircraft behavior in turbulence, and discovered your blog. I look forward to going through your archives. Good information.

]]> By: david https://lahso.megginson.com/2006/02/12/v-speeds/#comment-303 Fri, 24 Mar 2006 12:24:17 +0000 http://www.megginson.com/blogs/lahso/archives/2006/02/12/v-speeds/#comment-303 Thanks, Dave — “altimeter” was just a simple typo (you’ll notice that the picture is an ASI), and I’ve corrected it. I find that Wikipedia is actually pretty good on technical topics once an article settles. The trick is learning to recognize an article’s level of maturity, which isn’t easy at first.

]]> By: Dave Starr https://lahso.megginson.com/2006/02/12/v-speeds/#comment-302 Fri, 24 Mar 2006 10:52:29 +0000 http://www.megginson.com/blogs/lahso/archives/2006/02/12/v-speeds/#comment-302 I was a bit put off by your first paragraph. I’m only a private pilot and a long-inactive one at that, but all the critical performance and limit speeds I’ve ever seen marked on a cockpit instrument have been on the airspeed indicator, not the altimeter.

I’m not sure if this was your gotcha or Wikipedia’s, I find that site pretty useless myself in most any technical area, but like bubble-brained TV newscasters and newspapers that don’t know their country’s geography, it seems very popular in today’s world.

A very good job, though, on explaining a _lot_ about critical speeds I never learned.

]]> By: Marc https://lahso.megginson.com/2006/02/12/v-speeds/#comment-301 Sat, 11 Mar 2006 16:31:57 +0000 http://www.megginson.com/blogs/lahso/archives/2006/02/12/v-speeds/#comment-301 Great job! I’m a CFI/ATP with 4100 hrs. and I’ve yet to see a better explanation of how to adjust POH V-Speeds for weight.

]]> By: John https://lahso.megginson.com/2006/02/12/v-speeds/#comment-300 Tue, 14 Feb 2006 12:17:55 +0000 http://www.megginson.com/blogs/lahso/archives/2006/02/12/v-speeds/#comment-300 The FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook has a small section on this topic, but I think your version is more readable. I find student pilots often overlook the formula for adjusting V-speeds for less than gross weight.

Another way to approximate Va is to multiply Vs by the square root of the maximum positive load factor for the aircraft. I like to teach this to students so that they see the relationship between stall speed and maneuvering speed. The maneuvering speed is calculated so that if turbulence causes the wing to reach the critical angle of attack, the wing should stall (and unload) PRIOR to exceeding the maximum positive load factor.

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