wrote in
:


They're not constrained by revenue considerations and can have
fighter jet type wings and other shapes to allow good buffet margins
up there. You couldn't get a 747 up that high without buffeting it
out of the sky unless it were empty and out of gas!

Is this buffeting related to slow flight? I now remember reading
somewhere, maybe in stick and rudder that large jets do not want to
risk flying very high up at a low airspeed because of the possibility
of an inadvertent stall during turbulence (not sure how much
turbulence exists at FL600 though).




You can google the Advisory Circular AC 61-107a and it has a pretty good
dscription of what's going on. I can't read it at the moment because my
adobe is fuxored.


Bertie