A method for designing a low drag vehicle includes determining a plurality of configurations for at least two different Mach numbers that minimize the rate of change of cross-sectional area distribution of the vehicle in accordance with the Sears-Haack minimum drag body. The configurations can be weighted to emphasize optimum performance at particular operating conditions before averaging the configurations. The second order derivative of cross-sectional area distribution for the final configuration can be smoothed, and then integrated twice to determine the cross-sectional area distribution. A vertical stabilizer can be configured with one or more "waisted" sections to minimize the rate of change of cross-sectional area distribution of the vehicle or device to which the vertical stabilizer is mounted.
