wrote in message

Pardon my ignorance but what do you mean "Is 3500' adequate"? Doesn't
the PIC, as part of the pre-flight routine, estimate the maximum load

The answer to your question is yes, in a simple sense. Whether done by
computer in the dispatch office, or by hand in the cockpit, the calculation
has to be done. With transport aircraft, data is usually available to the
crew to come at the problem from 2 different directions.

1) we know the aircraft weight and the ancillary conditions. How much
runway is required to take off? This is the usual method, since large
aircraft usually operate at airports with multiple, long runways. Thus, it
is just a matter of selecting which runways are acceptable.

2) We know how much runway is available, so how much weight can we carry
under the existing conditions? In large transports, this method would
apply at airports with only one available runway, or perhaps several runways
that are all rather short, such as LGA, MDW, OR DCA.

So, my question addresses method 1, asking if 3500 ft is adequate runway
length for a fairly heavy RJ under normal conditions.

JG