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Dale wrote:
I fly VG equipped 206s and there is no change in Va.

Oh, contraire!

Va is a mathematical number, based on Vs0... stall speed (Va = Vs0 *
1.9?). When flying at Va (or below), at max gross weight, the
aircraft WILL stall before it bends.

Just a minor nit. The wing will stall at the same time it reaches the load
limit IF the wing is evenly loaded (ailerons neutral). If ailerons are not
neutral, the wing with the down aileron will be under a higher load and will
exceed the load limit before stalling. This is probably how the
fighter-pilot-for-a-day schools manage to break the T34s.

As the pilots flying the Airbus where the tail came off learned, there a lot
of qualifiers to the protection offered by Va.

At Va it is still possible to exceed the load limit if a strong enought gust
is encountered primarily because the gust increases IAS. There have been
gusts in excess of 80fps experienced in thunderstorms and also in mountain
wave rotors under exceptional circumstances.

Mike
MU-2