aft CG
willfrazer:
"The tail 'trim' tank would probably be full, to achieve better fuel economy.
The handling would of course be affected in Pitch and Yaw to some extent"
CG would, very likely, be at 38% of MAC in cruise, however up to now I do not know if during the fight certification tests they relay stall this very airplane either in normal forward CG or never at all and use computer accepted stall limits and from there on wards. As per the FCTM A330-340 it is implied that there is NOT a Stall Speed, but this is my perception of the words on the book.
An event on a MD-11 with aft CG that was caught by severe turb in cruise lost some 15,000 feet during a FLAT stall as the airplane recovered the pitch control as the air got thicker during the descent and the elevator responded after thousands of feet lost. It is not the same acft nor the same company as we all know but it comes to my mind if the aft critical CG for saving fuel can also kill.
I know flight certification is costly as they fly some zillion hours before the passengers embark but much of what is on the manual is computer derived.