Originally Posted by
rickair7777
You might be able to design a plane such that min drag and L/D max are very close.
But as UAL and Tony pointed out, they are not typically the same, they are located at different points on the graph. PRmin = min drag, since thrust = drag in steady state level flight.
In the KC-135 best range and max endurance were significantly different and varied by gross weight. Best range was always faster than endurance speed. However, the lighter you were, the closer they were. I would imagine for lighter aircraft they could be so close as to be indistinguishable. Pretty sure endurance was at L/D max, but my memory may be wrong and I don’t have a performance manual handy.