A method is presented for determining the rolling and yawing moments of swept-back wings in steady sideslip at supersonic speeds. The case treated in particular is that of a swept tapered wing with all edges subsonic.

The problem of the minimum induced drag of wings having a given lift and a given span is extended to include cases in which the bending moment to be supported by the wing is also given. Expressions for the spanwise load distribution and the minimum drag in terms of the lateral position of the load centroid are given. The results show a 15-percent reduction of the induced drag with a 15-percent increase in span over that for an elliptic loading having the same total lift and bending moment.