FL460? what ya doing there? that is way above safe operating limits.

Right Michael,

 

It was a last minute thought toward the end of the flight- why not see how high I can go as well?  46K was all I get out the plane.

 

Mark

 

 

It was a last minute thought toward the end of the flight- why not see how high I can go as well? 46K was all I get out the plane.

 

Maximum operating altitude is 41000.  Sure you can get higher but things start to get dicey or just unsafe. Did you check your cabin altitude when a 46000? Also, you were probably in what is called coffin corner where any faster an you get mach buffet and any slower you stall. You'd never try it as a professional pilot with passengers.

Agreed -

 

And nope on that particular leg of the flight I didn't review the cabin altitude settings.  I just went for it!

 

It was the very end of a long flight and I was getting punchy.  The plane is indeed extremely fragile up there, with an exceptionally nose-high attitude, you're essentially "mushing" through thin air with an IAS reading a few knots above your stall speed.  When you do stall out, you rapidly find yourself dropping right back to 41K before getting leveled out.  Perfect example of getting right up there in the very top of the corner.

 

Pushing things to their limit is one of the things I love best about the whole concept of the simulation - it allows you to try out the statistical outliers.

 

First Simulator: SubLogic Flight Simulator II for the Commodore 64.  Try landing a plane with a FPS of...2.  Current sims are easy!

 

Best simulator I spent time in (two separate flights each time in the pilot's seat):  KC-10 Extender, Singer-Link System, Barksdale AFB

 

Mark