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Old 26th Feb 2020, 16:30
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jimpl
 
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'Mass' may be more useful than 'weight'

I have read that IN FLIGHT the Va airspeed does not vary with wing loading (i.e. G-load). This notion holds that Va varies with aircraft MASS not aircraft WEIGHT. Admittedly, on earth MASS and WEIGHT may be essentially the same value but loading an aircraft in flight with the increased load factor of a level turn (or a pull-up) would increase the apparent WEIGHT of the aircraft and its contents but would not increase the aircraft's MASS. Therefore, this notion holds, Va would not vary.

As an aircraft flies along using its fuel the aircraft's MASS would be reducing and thus so would the aircraft's Va airspeed. Not by a lot I'd guess.
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