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My two cents worth, NASA did a whole bunch of boundery layer testing. And as it turns out, it's all about the airfoil and how it is constructed (visa ve, the DH-7, "dash seven", or even the -8 too, and the Predator UAV). Those aircraft all have such good laminar flow that the wing never really stops creating lift (and Predators crash alot because they don't stop flying during landing roll-outs).
So adding engines and getting rid of flaps on a Skymaster, not too practical. BUT, developing a new wing made of compossite material... equals better boundery control. And maybe even better speed and payload too. So who's ready to make new wings for Skymasters????? What a great STC idea.
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