Originally Posted by
mutt
How can they land at a weight higher than they can takeoff? Remember that MTOW does mean MAX TAKEOFF WEIGHT!
Mutt
Well, test aircraft
do perform takeoffs at values above what will be the certified MTOW, in order to be able to conduct in-flight tests at, or very close to, MTOW, after having attained a safe test altitude. And it's all done legally, by means of special dispensation for the test aircraft.
If, in one of those overweight takeoff cases the aircraft were to, say, suffer an uncontrolled fire and (like many of ours) have no fuel dump system, the crew would (have to) perform an immediate landing, which very well could be above MTOW.
There's no technical reason why it wouldn't work - there's no discintinuity in the actual engineering of the gear and structure at MTOW or MLW, you just don't meet specific margins and test requirements.
And just for additional info, I don't think any of our (Part 25) aircraft have MTOW equal to MLW and the only one which has a fuel dump system has it as much for cg control in the event of fuel feed problems as anything else.
We also have an aircraft where MTOW is lower than max in-flight weight, just to add to the amusement.
