flaps and load limits - new owner

[bd32322]

I am getting familiar with my M20J (owned since Jan this year) - in the POH it stats that with the flaps down - the negative load limit on the aircraft is 0 G !!

is that really true? does that mean that with the flaps down - every time i hit negative G in a bump I am stressing the airframe beyond its limits.

also what do you guys do when you are descending at say 140 - 160 KIAS and you hit moderate turb? Do you go to below Va or do you just take the autopilot off-line and relax pressures on the control yoke to not overstress the control surfaces or the aircraft in bumps?

 

thanks,

Bodi

[Kwixdraw]

You have to consider the weight that Va was determined at. I believe it's usually at max. gross so if you are under that weight you want to be under that Va speed also since the weight of the aircraft makes it harder for the air mass to accelerate it.

[bd32322]

so I know the concept of Va and higher the loading, the higher the Va with the max Va set at max gross weight. But you cant really keep going down to Va everytime there is turbulence - that would ruin the purpose of owning a Mooney that cruises at about 60 knots above Va

I guess the defintion of Va says that below that speed, a full abrupt control deflection will stall the wing rather than exceed load limits - so it seems that above Va if you dont make full deflections you are okay? Thats why just turn off the autopilot when encountering turbulence above Va?

I was interested in knowing what mooney drivers usually do - i think i get sharper bumps in this plane  than others - mostly because I am flying much faster than the other planes I used to fly.

Also the flap load limit of 0 negative Gs with flaps extended still worries me or is very hard for me to believe or is a mistake in my 1987 M20J POH.

[Kwixdraw]

Well all I can say is that all GA airplanes have pretty low Va speeds and we push the limits hard most of the time but few break up. I suppose it's a matter of how big a thrillseeker you want to be. I prefer to slow down. Then again I never enjoyed flying in much turbulence so I'm probably not the guy to comment.