If I remember correct,someone told me that the vref on the MD11 at max landing weigth is over 170 knots,which means a sinkrate over 850 ft/min on a normal glideslope at sea level.The other interessting thing is that the max landing weight is about 20 percent higher than the DC10-10.How it was certicated on that high weight I don,t know.Because someone must have known about the design weakness regarding landing gear and wing spar carried over from the DC 10.At least after the Faro accident.
A difficult question perhaps,but if the Max landing weight was adjusted down to DC10 standard,would it still be a money maker for the cargo operators?