[quote]A properly designed airfoil"
According to what criteria?
All of the shapes are compromises
every last one of em
As weight us reduced or the power is increased ,the criteria for the
properly designed airfoil changes shape.
Also a flat plate may be as good as ANY shape - depending on the flight criteria .
You aint working with a trained squirrel ,buddy.[/quote]

LOL. That's a new one on me, but you aint dealing with no chipmunk either friend.

But back to the topic, the "properly" designed airfoil, in the case of most planes, would give the desired amount of "lift" at a given speed with the least amount of drag and weight possible. As you stated, each is a compromise of some sort, you give up speed or effeciency to accomodate lift, weight, power, structural integrity, etc. The point of the original question about the dimples is whether they actually would reduce drag enough to make a difference. I think they would, but I'm not sure it would always be desired in a plane. I can see where reducing drag along the fusalage and other surfaces would be beneficial if it increased fuel ecomonmy. But I'm not sure in the case of the wing. In the example given by some one above about the Cessna gaining 5mph due to hail damage, I have to wonder if this also increased the stall speed of the craft? If so, this might not be desirable under some conditions.