Originally Posted by Tinstaafl
The force in F=ma is the increased L that is causing the a/c to accelerate, caused by the changed AoA. That acceleration imposes loads on structural items such as wing roots, engine mounts etc. The loads experienced by those structural items aren't what is causing the acceleration/'g' force. They're a reaction to it.
Agreed but that was not my original question. The fact is that a lighter aircraft can pull more 'g's on the wings than a heaver one due to the reasoning I mentioned. The reason for slowing down the aircraft when lighter is to prevent excess loading to the parts that bear a fixed weight - not the wings.