Counterintuitively, that probably makes it harder.
With any wing, the faster you go in level flight the less drag is caused by lift. This strange fact is because moving a large amount of fluid slowly is more efficient than moving a small amount of fluid fast, and a faster wing can interact with more fluid mass per second ("m dot").
Since skin drag increases with speed, adding these two drag curves together forms a 'valley' in the overall speed-vs-drag curve. Going slower or faster than this ideal speed will result in increased energy per mile.
The math is better explained in David MacKay's brilliant ebook, 'Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air.'
With any wing, the faster you go in level flight the less drag is caused by lift. This strange fact is because moving a large amount of fluid slowly is more efficient than moving a small amount of fluid fast, and a faster wing can interact with more fluid mass per second ("m dot").
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift-induced_drag#Calculation_...
Since skin drag increases with speed, adding these two drag curves together forms a 'valley' in the overall speed-vs-drag curve. Going slower or faster than this ideal speed will result in increased energy per mile.
The math is better explained in David MacKay's brilliant ebook, 'Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air.'
https://www.withouthotair.com/cC/page_269.shtml