Originally Posted by kaffis
Such a system would create a "soft cap" by offering your diminishing performance returns. Eventually, you'd hit the hard cap by virtue of just not being able to generate enough upward thrust to go higher, and trying would, yes, stall you out.
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I prefer this idea to an instant stall since it's realistic. <science>The higher you are the lower the atmospheric pressure, and the less lift you can produce, so you fall back towards the planet until you regain enough lift</science>. Therefore I would propose a maximum cruising altitude (you start floating back down) and a maximum altitude (hard stall). That allows the warning at the ceiling cap in a more intuitive and recognisable way.
Different maximum altitudes is a cool idea too: faster aircraft should be able to fly higher. If such a thing as a SkyGuard exists it should be able to hit heavy aircraft (AA MAXs can climb towers to do the same). Using pilots for air supremacy will still be necessary because enemy aircraft will be able to attack the heavier planes from above.