Hi EA
EquineArcher wrote:So.....can someone do me a favour and explain why one is chosen over the other? And how each works? Just to help me choose which type I want to use?
It does not matter if you choose Left Wing or Right Wing - the arrow will start to rotate as soon as the arrows disengages from the bowstring. However the amount it will have rotated when passes the riser is small and as the arrow is not in contact with anything the direction of rotation has nil effect.
If you use Feather Fletches then your arrow will rotate in flight - it may be slow and it may take a while to spin up but it will rotate. This is a direct result of the sides of the feather having different surface "Drag" and thus the pressure on each side of the fletch is different.
Straight fletched arrows will have less drag than Helical fletched arrows - so if you are shooting long distance or want the fastest arrow then choose straight with minimum offset.
Helical fletched arrows will have more drag than straight fletched arrows however once the arrow is spinning the amount of additional drag as compared to a straight fletched arrow is small. It takes very little energy to keep the arrow spinning once it is up to speed. Plus if you are using long fletches Helical allows the fletch to sit more naturally on the shaft and thus the forces trying to peel the fletch off are significantly reduced - there is less chance of a fletch coming loose.
What Helical Fletching does do is offer two regimes of stabilising drag on the arrow. At Launch, the first regime of operation, the arrow is not spinning it present a large cross-sectional area to the direction of flow and drag is high producing a large corrective force to the arrow shaft so that it straightens up quickly. Once the arrow has spun up to speed, the second regime, the amount of cross-sectional area offered to the direction of flow is reduced and the drag is reduced and equates to being almost the same as a straight fletched arrow.
So a Helically Fletched arrow will have high drag at Launch to stabilise the arrow and that reduces to low drag once it has spun up to speed.
It is easy to get Helically arrows mismatched if you use multiple jigs - the arrows are not fletched identically and as a result vary in their velocity a few metres downrange. If you are using multiple jigs it is well worth the time to set them up so they all fletch to as close as possible the same. (That also goes for straight fletching.)
Addenda.
A straight fletch that is angled across the shaft is an approximation of a fletch that is helically wound around the shaft and has similar characteristics.
Grahame.
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) it could just mean its traditional......I personally would prefer a better arrow over tradition myself.... and personal style of course comes it it - haha! Helical fletching does look superb (isnt that what its all about when you cant decside? haha!)
