pac plyer wrote in message Now that I
think about it, the go fast arg makes sense, cuz the first 2 degree
position is almost all lift, no drag. (BTW My email is current inop)

The 727 wing is still the most awesome wing Boeing designed. It will do
decent short-field work (at reasonable weights) and still cruise M.88 (Mmo
is .90). Then computers replaced slide-rules.

Dragging the flaps wasn't done for speed. It was done for altitude. There is
a current STC that resets the LED and flap settings for optimizing cruise at
M.77 instead of M.84. The LEDs droop slightly, the flaps hang down 2
degrees, and winglets are installed. That allows the 727 to climb from FL290
to FL330 while weighing 8000# more.

D.