Coffin corner - is it better to descend on the fast side?
A question or two for the pro's of flight testing.
If I ever would encounter a hairy situation when flying close to buffet onset and stall speed and the only way out is down and get a bit overspeed - what happens to an airliner when entering the zone above MMO/VMO?
Buffeting?
Flutter?
Nothing but increased drag?
Loss of e.g. aileron control?
Others?
The question arose out of a discussion where I said that it might be better to descend by reducing thrust and keeping attitude when hitting turbulence close to the margins (VS vs. MMO/VMO) even when risking that during the gusts I may hit an overspeed condition.
My argument was that MMO/VMO will not lead to a situation from which it may be difficult to recover as long as I would not dive the plane, whereas a stall definitively will.
Still we're out of tolerance and therefore the question: What really happens when going overspeed?
What happens with 10kts?
What happens with 25kts?
Any enlightenment very welcome.
Last edited by error_401; 25th May 2012 at 21:41.