> It's normal for airplanes of the same model to fly differently
In my experience any equipment this large is effectively handmade, with all the variability implied by this. I'd hope aircraft are made to tighter tolerances than the stuff I work with but a couple of millimeters is often enough to have a noticeable effect on things like actuator travel.
> nobody should be flying an airplane like this so close to the edge the exact stall speed needs to be known numerically within one knot.
This is exactly my takeaway as well. Rather than trying to determine the characteristics of the machine to the n'th degree, assume a realistic degree of variation and design for it accordingly.
In my experience any equipment this large is effectively handmade, with all the variability implied by this. I'd hope aircraft are made to tighter tolerances than the stuff I work with but a couple of millimeters is often enough to have a noticeable effect on things like actuator travel.
> nobody should be flying an airplane like this so close to the edge the exact stall speed needs to be known numerically within one knot.
This is exactly my takeaway as well. Rather than trying to determine the characteristics of the machine to the n'th degree, assume a realistic degree of variation and design for it accordingly.