Baaahhhh...Baaahhhhhh....

I'm no expert, but I did stay at a H.I.E. last night..........I would think there is definately some aerodynamic advantage to having some thickness at the TE. IMO it gives a more definate zone where air over the top and bottom of the wing can merge with a turbulent zone bound between them. With a sharp TE, it would seem like the the turbulent zone where the two flows mix would vary in location relative to the TE, somtimes above, and sometimes below varying the drag axis and thus affecting tracking. As with any other design factor, I'm sure there is a tradeoff or at least a point of diminishing returns on this....Richard