Maneuvering speed

In aviation, the maneuvering speed of an aircraft is an airspeed limitation at which the full deflection of the controls can be made at without risking structural damage.

[2] It has been widely misunderstood that flight below maneuvering speed will provide total protection from structural failure.

In response to the destruction of American Airlines Flight 587, a CFR Final Rule was issued clarifying that "flying at or below the design maneuvering speed does not allow a pilot to make multiple large control inputs in one airplane axis or single full control inputs in more than one airplane axis at a time".

the aircraft will stall in a nose-up pitching maneuver before the structure is subjected to its limiting aerodynamic load.

Some Pilot's Operating Handbooks also present safe speeds for weights less than the maximum.

The concept of maximum operating maneuvering speed was introduced to the US type-certification standards for light aircraft in 1993.

[1][6] The maximum operating maneuvering speed is selected by the aircraft designer and cannot be more than

, where Vs is the stalling speed of the aircraft, and n is the maximal allowed positive load factor.

A flight envelope diagram showing V S (Stall speed at 1G), V C (Corner/Maneuvering speed) and V D (Dive speed)
Vg diagram. Note the 1g stall speed, and the Maneuvering Speed (Corner Speed) for both positive and negative g. The maximum “never-exceed” placard dive speeds are determined for smooth air only.