That sounds odd, I thought with ram compression and everything a jet would perform better at higher speed due to ram compression effects though at the speed optimum for that, the wing's L/D ratio would have already started falling off.
Jane baby, where have you been, I dream about you constantly.
Well, yeh, (see my note) this is indeed true of cruising for range - but like I said you just want to keep the aircraft airborne - this does not mean max thrust at max angle at the back of the drag curve, that would be silly and you would use loads of fuel, very quickly and cause a lot of noise and overheating and a whole load of stuff not good for engines.
Nor, is the aircraft hanging by the thread of its teeth by the same token.
It is not a fast speed but fast enough to warrant good effeciency from the engines, albeit the entire profile is only effecient for letting the engines run and cool but nothing else, except to keep you effecintly airborne by burning the least amount of fuel over time, hence keeping you airborne over a longer time.
Invariably, but not always, you would probably be holding at the end of your trip. Therefore, you would be lighter than at the start of the trip, so this will work in your favour too. It is not effecient in distance . . . but it is effecient in burning the least amount of fuel possible, over time. Therefore maximising your
time in the air. Just swan around slowly, around the hold at the max endurance speed, which is quite slow, until they have bulldozed the dead elephant off the landing runway.