On Oct 22, 12:38*pm, jan olieslagers
wrote:
Dancing Fingers schreef:

The thing of it is that the car they used, as I remember, also had a
very aerodynamic shape and it still helped.

Hm. Define "very aerodynamic"? Perhaps "more aerodynamic than most cars"
* which would still be far from the average aeroplane?

I recall a salesman trying to sell a bunch of hail damaged airplanes
by saying they went faster because the dents produced a "golf ball
effect". I don't think he got many buyers.

Aerodynamisists have been trying to create "surface treatments" to
improve laminar flow for a century. So far, the mirror smooth
surfaces of sailplanes are best.

There is a guy, a Dr. Sinha, (http://sinhatech.com/) claiming to have
something called a "deturbulator" which is a sort of flexible tape
stuck on wing surfaces. If it works, and survives the rigors of
actual flight operations, it might be a big deal. I wouldn't hold my
breath.