Airspeed Envelop for Air Transport Airplanes Jet transports cruise near MCRIT,
Pilot must control airspeed within specified limits
MCRIT—Mach number where airflow on the airframe first reaches Mach 1 (beginning of transonic flight regime)
Force Divergence Mach number—about 5% above MCRIT
transonic aerodynamic effects begin
nose tuck due to aft movement of Mach wave on the wing
high speed stall—boundary layer detaches aft of the Mach wave
Must not allow airspeed to reach MCRIT in an air transport aircraft
Definitions
VS—1 G stall speed
VMO—max operating airspeed to prevent ram-air damage
VS and VMO in KEAS are invariant with altitude
MMO—max operating Mach number to avoid approaching MCRIT
VMMO—airspeed corresponding to MMO
decreases as altitude increase in SA because speed of sound decreases while MMO is constant
plotted in Figure 3.11, but conventionally labeled MMO
MDF—maximum demonstrated Mach number: Mach number at which aircraft has been tested and shown to be controllable
MDF > MMO because MMO has a built-in airspeed safety margin
Figure 3.11 Airspeed Envelop for Boeing 767 at 1 G and 300,000# Gross
Figure 3.13
VS(156 KEAS)— minimum airspeed to avoid stalling the wing (typically not VS in performance manuals, which provide a safety margin above the 1 G stall speed) INVARIANT WITH ALTITUDE
VMO (390 KEAS)—maximum airspeed to avoid ram air damage (also provides a safety margin) INVARIANT WITH ALTITUDE
VMMO (KEAS; labeled MMO)—maximum airspeed to avoid close approach to transonic flight (monitored on the Mach meter) DECREASES AS ALTITUDE INCREASES
MMO (not specified in figure) INVARIANT WITH ALTITUDE
Crossover altitude (20,000’)—altitude where VMO = VMMO
Below crossover altitude, airspeed limited by VMO
Above crossover altitude, airspeed limited by MMO / VMMO
Coffin Corner (60,000’)—altitude where VS = VMMO (near the coffin corner, it is difficult to distinguish a high speed stall from a low speed stall)