"Peter" wrote in message
...

I think I understand the reasoning behind Va, the max maneuvering
speed, being that the wing will stall (and thus dispose of the
loading) before it breaks. This is why Va falls as the weight falls,
because at any given IAS a higher weight takes the aircraft closer to
stall already.

There was a long thread in January, "Va and turbulent air
penetration speed" which you ought to be able to find
on Google.

The short answer is that flying below Va (even at max
weight) doesn't guarantee that the wing will stall before
exceeding the load factor. Va is defined in terms of
what control surfaces can handle, not when the wings
will fall off; see for example FAR 23.423 and 23.335.