VLE is defined as the maximum speed when the landing gear is extended.

• A. Maximum landing gear extended speed
• B. Minimum landing gear extended speed
• C. Maximum speed with gear retracted
• D. Stall speed with gear down

Answer: (A)

VLE is the maximum speed you can fly with the landing gear down. When the gear is extended, drag goes up and the gear doors and legs are subjected to different loads, so there’s a limit to how fast you can safely fly in that configuration. Exceeding this speed could stress the gear or its door mechanisms, or cause instability due to the extra drag.

That’s why the correct description is the maximum speed with the landing gear extended. The other options describe different limits or configurations: minimum speed with the gear down isn’t a standard published limit, maximum speed with the gear retracted refers to a normal gear-up condition, and stall speed with the gear down is a different performance parameter not used to cap speed with the gear out.