Envelopes

[DanKH]

How to you calculate an aircraft's flight envelope?

Or is and ATC matter, and if so has it changed from the sixties-seventies until now?

[emfrat]

Cheers Dan -
The separation rules are set by the ICAO and ATC monitors flights using them.
They were revised quite recently.
http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/hea ... oute/rvsm/

The term "flight envelope" usually means "performance envelope", i.e the stress limits within which the aircraft must be kept, or it breaks up, or falls out of the sky and then breaks up.
I believe the designers graph all the factors, and the clear patch enclosed by the lines is called the envelope.
ATB
MikeW

[SkippyBing]

Or is and ATC matter

Never trust ATC, they're not in the aircraft....

[DanKH]

OK, thanks

So it is actually the performance envelope (minALT, maxALT) I'm after for various aircrafts such as:

DC910
DC940
DC862
DC10
B742

Just to pick 5 totally random

minRwyLen would also be nice to know .... .. I know that depends on weather, AirportLvl and several other parameters, but I guess there is a de facto "standard" dry conditions etc. etc.

[emfrat]

Hi Dan -
I don't know if FAA certifications are in the public domain and available online, but that would be one place to look.
A search here would produce heaps of info too, I expect
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/ ... 01842.html

but take care, it is one of those fascinating websites where you start reading one thing, and suddenly it's days later, nothing has been done around the house, and you have forgotten what it was you first came in for

Cheers
MikeW

[BAe146]

Boeing has all of these

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/airpor ... nuals.html

[Chris Trott]

Much of the information you're looking for is available here -

Type Certificate Data Sheets

Search by aircraft model (be specific too) and you'll get the information. If you need more, lemme know, I know a couple of other FAA databases that can help for post-production freighter modifications and the similar.

Also, as for how you calculate it, it's simple - that's what the test flights are for. The engineers who design the plane calculate what they think it is, but then the test flights prove it.