Quote:
Originally posted by myv65
On a macro-scale, this is where it's at. Ya gotta optimize the use of the metal for conduction's sake while maximizing the surface area for convection's sake while minimizing the metal and surface area for flow's sake. Yeah.
On the micro-scale, you get into the stuff mentioned by many others here before. Namely surface treatments to minimize boundary layer thickness. IIRC, one of the big airplane manufacturers has been experimenting with tiny chevrons protruding from the airskin surface. They have been working to optimize chevron height, width, angle, and array layout to minimize skin drag. We're talking stuff that sticks up a mere few thousandths of an inch. Same sorta idea applies to our WB passages. Modeling something like this is outa my current league as my software resources aren't what they used to be. 
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Yeah.
I used to work for an airline, so I can relate to what you're saying. They're also going to have to take noise into account, and find a balance point. If you've been on an Airbus 330 or 340 (like me), then you know how amazingly quiet they are: you can actually hold a quiet conversation during take off! For an airline, it's a big selling point.