Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead
*The drag coefficient of a 3-D body cannot achieve it's lowest drag without a full turbulent boundary layer.
*Airplanes are ruled by skin friction drag,they don't have profile drag like a car.Any thing they can do to reduce a turbulent boundary layer saves them fuel.So no dimpling!
The only exception would be for high-angle-of-attack takeoff or landing,when artificial roughness would make the difference between a crash.
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Here's where I get a little confused. Does turbulent attached flow produce more drag than laminar or vice versa? I understand the reduced wake is the end game, but is that the only plus to the dimpling?
If so, it makes sense a plane with a no-compromises shape wouldn't have the same separation issues and wouldn't want to run around chopping up air
I'm also curious what you mean by a car is mostly profile drag vs the plane