RE: Optimal Fuselage Design
Great picture Ed.
Note the shape of the fusekage behind the wing.
Now how do you close out the fuselage platform behind the wing? It seems that a lot of the high performance home built aircraft designers agree. Pinch the fuselage tail-cone to minimize surface area. But I like numbers, especially if they are attached to NASA or NACA (predated NASA). So I use the platform of the NACA duct to complete the tail, by stretching it in length slightly. It is thought that since the air becomes turbulent behind the wing, that this shape will recover some of the energy and add a bit of thrust. At any rate, it does reduce the area greatly, for lower drag and lower weight of the aircraft.
bob