Never-Exceed Speed

Lesson Objective

The designers of the aircraft never intended the aircraft to fly beyond a certain airspeed, V_NE. Beyond the VNE speeds, there are no guarantees that the aircraft will fly without destructive flutter.

Regulatory Requirement

Pre-Solo: §61.87(i)(8)
Private Pilot: PTS - V

Completion Standards

The student must be able to:

Dictate the never exceed speed for the club gliders
Explain the hazards associated with rapid stick movement near V_NE
Explain the hazards associated with turbulence near V_NE
Explain the influence of aircraft loading on the speed of V_NE
Explain the effect of altitude on V_NE

Prerequisite Study

§ 1.2 Abbreviations and symbols.
Glider Flying Handbook "Maximum Structural Cruising Speed", page 4-3
V-Speeds -- Wikipedia article on V-Speeds

Further Study

Wing Flutter Videos
- AIr and Space Magazine (YouTube) (YouTube 2 )
- DG Flugzeugbau Flutter Flight Test

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