Originally Posted by
HazelNuts39
Dozy,
IMHO there is nothing 'theoretical' about alpha-max. It is a somewhat arbitrary value chosen by the airplane manufacturer and programmed into the flight control system, just as alpha-prot and alpha-floor. It varies with configuration and (on some airplanes) with Mach number (when M>0.3 typically).
Agreed - the function that determines the value is programmed into the flight control software as you describe.
And, as I said, it must be obtainable by pulling the sidestick to the aft stop and holding it there.
No - according to the documentation, Alpha Max (as illustrated by the graph in the doc) *may* be achieved by pulling the sidestick full aft, but the documentation clearly states that the theoretical alpha max is not guaranteed to be reached.