On drag

Jim Macklin wrote:

wrote in message
ps.com...
| Is it a fair assumption that at best L/D speed the drag
will be the least?

No, because it is a ratio of lift over drag. You could
reduce lift and also reduce drag.

For a given aircraft flying straight and level, lift=weight. Unless
the weight's changing (or you accelerate the aircraft by turning), the
lift doesn't change as you change speed - it still has to equal the
weight to keep the plane in the air.

Given that, then yes - maximizing L/D minimizes drag.

Obviously there are many cases where this won't be true, but for the
most part, it is.

--
Marc J. Zeitlin
http://www.cozybuilders.org/
Copyright (c) 2006