If I may echo Burrito's point, the G limits in the Flight Manual are not the same as the structural load limit cited in the OP.
Example: back in the 80's a friend of mine was instructing in a T-34C. The G limits in the NATOPS were +4.5 / -1. Any G over 4.5 had to be reported to maintenance. His student, coming out of a split S, got a little frisky and pulled hard enough to gray/blackhimself out, and my buddy got a bit gray as he called for and took the controls.
All said and done, 7.3 G put on the aircraft. They reported it, a few bolts were replaced, some skin removed and repaired, and that bird was still flying years later. (At the time, we referred to it as "The Corsair" ... )
Did that one pull materially shorten the FLE for that airframe?
Good question. I don't have the answer to it, but I suspect an engineer at NAVAIR knows, or once knew.
Last edited by Lonewolf_50; 11th Mar 2013 at 14:57.