Morning, Mutt (evening for you, I guess) .. not often we coincide on the forum .....
I suggest either schedule may be used although I would be interested in Mutt's views should he take a hardline position ... I suspect that his position has a standardisation basis. I can't see that either approach necessarily comprises any airworthiness or flight standards concern .....
If one uses the actual weight schedule, all is well and the ASDR is minimised .. along with gear and flap wear. The only time I would be wary is if the weight is very low when there will be a significant overspeed due to acceleration and, in the case of a significant crosswind, handling problems in the event of a failure are needlessly increased.
If one uses the limiting weight schedule, one gets an improved climb performance at the expense of increased ASDR. At the reduced weight, the actual performance is superior to that inherent in the limiting weight calculations .... given that I suspect I know the operator to which you refer and the background of its management, I am surprised to see them adopt this protocol. ... but it is really a case of which horse management wishes to back ....
Perhaps the operator or its performance personnel made a flight standards decision to keep things simple for the troops in a period of unseemly expansion wherein a great number of comparatively inexperienced pilots has been employed ..... ?
Then again ... a nice cold morning ... sea level airport .... empty aircraft ....full thrust .... makes a change from seeing the far end of the runway at close quarters .....
Last edited by john_tullamarine; 5th August 2003 at 03:12.