"Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe" The Sea Hawk at wow way d0t com wrote in message
...
Shorter span would typically have more induced drag so, for the same power
would fly slower.

But it will have less parasitic drag.

It sounds as though, at least in this case, the increase in induced drag is
greater than the decrease in parasitic drag. But the result is by no means
applicable to all wings.

As you point out, there are other differences that are relevant as well.
It's hard to say, knowing only that one wing has greater wingspan than the
other, what accounts for the actual difference in total drag. One hopes
that the student with the science fair project has accounted for those
differences, but you never know.

Pete