grouch78

Just to clarify, it was American flight 587, an Airbus 300-600, on Nov 12, 2001. AA587 crashed shortly after takeoff, about 3 miles from JFK. It is likely he didn't even have his flap and slats retracted, therefore would not have been anywhere close to maneuvering speed. The FAA amended this definition in 2010 as a result (SUMMARY: The Federal Aviation Administration amends the airworthiness standards applicable to transport category airplanes to clarify that flying at or below the design maneuvering speed does not allow a pilot to make multiple large control inputs in one airplane axis or single full control inputs in more than one airplane axis at a time without endangering the airplane's structure. The FAA is issuing this final rule to prevent pilots from misunderstanding the meaning of an airplane's maneuvering speed, which could cause or contribute to a future accident)

references: Wikipedia - American airlines flight 587; Maneuvering Airspeed

grouch78

Turbulence will affect lightly wing loaded aircraft to a greater degree than heavier aircraft. that's why heavier model airplanes fly better in high winds than lighter models. I flew f-16 and f-111s - on low level flights the f-16s ride was stiff, like a corvette; the f-111 rode like Cadillac.

grouch78

Design load limits apply to the aircraft at maximum takeoff weight otherwise you would have separate load limits for empty and full of fuel, people, cargo, etc. Even at 2Gs, the add'l stress of 40,000lbs of payload/fuel could be catastrophic. And the designers always have about a 100% safety factor built in, so if the placarded load limit is 2gs, then it can safely handle the jolts from turbulence.

Every flight manual I have ever studied has always said to slow down in turbulence to the slowest practical airspeed. Although you can go faster in a lightly loaded plane, believe me, the jolts are going to feel worse. For the 737 and Md-83, turbulence penetration airspeed was about 280kias. Heavier aircraft (b-767,777, A-340,380) may require higher airspeeds.