4th Anniversary Field Archery News UK magazine - June/July 2020

Pictured: Group photo of “Forest Horseback Archers” in the woods! Pic provided by: Kate Blinston

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4th Anniversary Messages Did you know that if you would like to show your appreciation and support for FAN UK and what Hels is doing (and to enable her to keep the magazine free for everyone) you can DONATE? You may or may not know that \"Field Archery News UK\" online magazine is researched, edited and produced by just one person whose aim has always been and still is to bring field archery in all its forms (alongside other forms of archery) and all associations & societies together in one place to celebrate, promote and share our wonderful sport with archers, clubs and enthusiasts across the UK and worldwide. Any sum to keep the magazine going would be greatly appreciated - thank you :-) To Donate via PayPal just visit https://www.paypal.me/FANUKHels OR select the \"Donate with a card\" option (which does NOT go via PayPal once the Donate with a card option is selected) at https://www.paypal.com/donate/… 57

“Adventures into the Longbow” Part One by Alison Rayson. I have had the unfortunate experience of my Ghost recurve starting to delaminate - fortunately discovered when I was making a string not shooting… that would have been interesting! The only good thing about this was the fact that last year at Ye Olde Delph’s open shoot; I had sidled up to Alan Beatty and asked him to make me a longbow. I did this as he had told me that he was going to stop making bows as his supply of Tonkin bamboo had dried up, so he only had enough for a few more bows. So when the Ghost delaminated I called him up hopeful that he might, just might, have finished it. Happy days – it would be ready the following week! So, the ghost was sent off for repair/replacement to Germany and I picked up the longbow from Alan the following week. I had specified only a couple of pounds lighter than the Ghost so took a fistful of old arrows with me when I went. Alan had crafted a beautiful laminated bow, with purple heart, lemonwood, Ipe and backed with bamboo. We nipped off to North Lakes course to give it a go. Surprisingly I did really well with it straight out, possibly because I knew I had no expectations with it. With the bamboo in the laminations it seemed to shoot much faster than I was expecting, with a cast not too dissimilar to the Ghost as to be impossible for me to hit the targets. I had a grin on my face. Back home I have to admit I have been struggling to get used to it, sometimes I seem to crack it and shoot really well, only to then have a patch where frankly I’ve missed the boss let alone the target… it’s humbling. It also keeps doing one thing which no other bow I’ve shot has done, it keeps making me want to lean over, canting the bow, snap off a couple of arrows, then leap forward to do justice to the mean old sheriff. It transports me back to halcyon childhood days of sticks and string. Just standing sort of leaning on it like Errol Flynn did makes me feel young again. And t hen it goes 58

and brings me back to earth with a bump. It bites back - literally. The lower bracing height means the string just seems to catch under the front of my bracer. A more traditional one has helped but it still punishes any sloppy form on my part. After a couple of nights using it at the hall, I took it out to a Lancashire league shoot. I brought in what I thought a reasonable score and my first league PB. We then had a long period of cancelled shoots thanks to global warming and I continued to wrestle with it at the hall. Members of the club have been treated to seeing me do some great shots followed by some howlers. I’m still trying to get my head around the consistency - or lack of it. I’m also running through my pile of mismatched arrows trying to find the ones that work well in order to be able to make up a batch for it. Its over a month now and I still haven’t come up with the approximate combination. This Sunday I filled my quiver with what arrows I had and went down to Delamere for their open. Their course was a much more expansive one than the league, with few short shots, but no really long ones either. I shot ‘OK’ in the morning, and then more than 50 points worse in the afternoon but I didn’t care. At times I was mad with myself, and at others frustrated, but no matter what, I’d set a PB for an open shoot and I still had that smile on my face. I was, however, rapidly running out of arrows to test out. I figured that as most of my arrows were going left of the target, that most of them were too stiff. I will have to go and root through the original arrows I did for my kids’ bows back in the day and try again. I also think I’ll have to get some bamboo arrows - they seem to be tougher - or this longbow is going to be expensive in the short term... well, lets face it, in the long term as well. The longbow opens up a conundrum for me: to excel at archery you have to be consistent, but it won’t let me be that yet. I am careful to try and hold the bow in the same place and use the same grip each time but the hand shock and winter weather are conspiring against me. I have to wear warm gloves outside, but inside I wear a thin leather finger ring to shoot off (oh the joys of the menopausal hot flushes!). I know my hand height differs for each shot. Having previously shot recurve I’m just not used to much hand shock at all. I haven’t yet dropped the bow after a shot but it’s been close. I am thinking about a finger sling at the moment. I love my ghost – it was sweet to draw and fast. It attracted loads of comments and I really hope it comes back soon. In the meantime I am slowly falling for the longbow, it is making me work harder, giving up its secrets with a fight, and as a result when I do hit a sweet spot, I feel I’ve earned it. It is teaching me to be a better archer. ~ Part Two in the August/September 2020 issue of “Field Archery News UK” ~ 59





FAN UK would like to say... ~ Welcome to the world of Rockingham Field Archers! ~ By my dear friend and FAN UK family member, Ian Finch - As a club now we have been up and running for nearly three years now, some of our history I have written about before and won’t go into again, instead I thought I would write a mini-review and a vision for things that may come. So, as a club we broke away from Baldivis Archery Club due to internal politics and wanted to avoid getting caught up in the trap of the long stay committee, so we wrote our constitution only allowing a two year stay in position and a further year in another committee position and then stand down for a year from all committee roles. So hopefully promoting more people to step up and take on roles within the committee. The Original founding members and committee and... trust me... our best view! For the initial nine months we struggled to find a shooting location, but thankfully this is Western Australia and one of our members had a large five acre bush plot he opened up for us to use. We were in constant contact with the council and finally secured a lease for six months to use some land in Rockingham which once was the old rubbish dump. 62

So - all excited - we spent a few weeks setting up a course and trying to make a challenging safe field course. After a few adjustments and adaptions we were happy and had an open day and invited all the traditional archers from the local Archery Australia clubs and Australian Bow Hunters Clubs. Great turn out with over thirty guests. BBQ to finish and a few cold ones may have been cracked too!! So feeling pretty positive we set up our beginners program and went for the one day’s intensive training and the buddy system with ongoing coaching as we shot. We also used longbows (AFB) for all our training of beginners and had a 80% take up in joining the club af- ter their initial 3 month buddy system was completed. Then BOOM!!! The council sent us discontinuation notice stating various reasons including Contaminated Grounds and remote access to power and water not financially viable. We had a month to vacate!!! So to cut a long story short we packed up our gear stored it a various member’s garages and sheds! My wife got a nasty shock when she opened our garage to see a dozen 3D animals tucked up with slippers and duvets watching the cricket. 63

So with a membership now over twenty with eight juniors all champing at the bit to shoot what do we do???!!! The council offered us no replacement grounds and, in fact, were pretty reluctant to help us; instead saying we should join with the existing local Archery Club (Baldivis Archery Club). Things were looking a bit dire and frustration levels were on the rise when one of our junior members Mum offered us a life line, her neighbour is a horse breeder and her foaling paddock was now empty and as the foals had grown up left home and got jobs on the mines or something. We had a six month window before the next set of foals got found under the gooseberry bush. So after breaking the news to the members we organised a ‘busy bee’ to set things up and on the day we had a 95% turn out of members - juniors as well. We set up a dozen targets and the juniors did most of the heavy lifting, star picket bashing and dragging massive target bags into place; it was a great experience seeing such enthusiasm. We happily shot on the horse paddock for a few months and though very limited in what we could set up but at least we could shoot! By this time our Treasurer - Andrew - had secured a sponsorship with the local pub, The Nags Head in Rockingham. The owner not only gave us discount meals and beverages :) but also allowed us to hold meetings there and had a table made up for us. 64

With no movement from the council on a long term lease or availability of any local grounds, we started looking further afield to other districts. Alas no luck, and the distant whinny of foals and stork wings flapping was on the breeze. One of new members, who had been with us at the old club but had left for a while, came back on the scene with his son and one of his daughters wanting to start. We welcomed them into the club and I coached his daughter and thought nothing else of it until he offered to host a shoot at his home - at that time, unbeknown to me, he had a twenty five acre horse ranch and included in this was an equestrian playground, used by local Police to train their horses and by various other clubs to exercise/train their horses; so I drove to the house to find he lived only ten minutes from me… I had a wide-eyed look around and said that it would be awesome. I organised a 3D shoot at his place and all of the members showed up for a great fun shoot and BBQ to finish. 65

Noel - the member who owns the horse ranch - was so pleased with how things went he offered us his grounds to shoot on every Sunday and a shed to keep all our gear in. To say I bit his hand off would be an understatement! So this is our location now: we get to shoot every Sunday morning, all year round. The weather in Western Australia is terrible... I mean we have sun 300+ days a year and winter is a barmy 15 degrees on average during the day; and as for rain... well we get about 6 weeks of pretty heavy rain but it comes in showers never a full day’s rain unlike Portsmouth (my home town). The local council are still pressing us to join the old club and share the grounds so we have gone through the motions and done what they have asked but, as predicted, the old club are resistant to share and have thrown up a few road blocks. In summary:- we are up and running on private grounds with a membership of 45 (of which a dozen are juniors, we have 8 lady shooters and 5 are 75+ old codgers - one of whom celebrated his 82nd birthday last week!]. We shoot predominately 3D rounds, a new set-up every week and we also have Zombie shoots and Flu Flu Golf which has been a big hit and I’ve received numerous requests for rules and set-up details. 66

The juniors are always quick to volunteer to go fishing for arrows in the water trap. The Flu Flu Golf is a very popular shoot and as a coach I love it as it really gets people anchoring and holding. With the space we have, long distance shoots are included... the 3D antelope is approx 60m away. 67

Zombie shoots are a big hit with the club and the juniors love it. Special patches are awarded for head hits, well it’s the only way to kill a zombie after all. Our last Zombie shoot had a record turnout of 29 shooters! We like to make our 3D rounds pretty tough - all are unmarked and normally with trees or bushes cunningly placed! I get a lot of “What target? Where is it? I can’t see it? What!!! that’s it?!!”, but as a coach I’ve noted the skill level improvement across the board with juniors and beginners alike hitting obscured targets, and they all come back for more every week; and every week I hear the same comments but they all have smiles on their faces - so job done!! 68

So here we are at the end of a shoot socialising and having a beverage or two... we are a social fun club who rarely score and shoot for nothing more than the love of archery. If you’re ever in Rockingham, Western Australia look us up and come and have a shoot - you will be most welcome... and don’t worry, we are the best arrow finders in the state!! Finally… big congratulations to Field Archery News UK on their 4th anniversary from all us in Rockingham Field Archers, Western Australia! Great Stuff, keep it up! Cheers & stay safe - Ian Finch, Rockingham Field Archers. 69

4th Anniversary Messages “Forest Horseback Archers would like to congratulate FAN UK magazine on its 4th anniversary and we wish you many more successful years! The energy and dedication that goes into the magazine is apparent, thank you for that.” ~ All good wishes - Kate Blinston ~ “Bohning would like to congratulate FAN UK on its 4th birthday! We are proud partners!” “Everyone at Regent Archers would like to wish FAN UK a happy 4th birthday. Thanks for all the help you’ve given us over the last 4 years and for everything you do to help promote field archery in the UK and around the world.” 70



Beginner’s bowyer dictionary A few words from a craftsman ~ By Bartek Grygiel of Dreamcraft Archery ~ No doubt, the times we are getting through are very tough for all of us. For many, doing what they love the most – shooting bows and enjoying nature - is temporarily impossible… but why not take advantage of these hard times? I would like you to visit with me a traditional craftsman workshop where our loyal bows are born. Perhaps you will find deep inside a desire to become… … a bowyer. But who is he? Simply speaking he is a person who makes bows; a person who finds the weapon in the woods logs. Those bows can be hidden very deep under the thick bark and sometimes a layer of sapwood 72

so seeing them and getting out of the wood is always challenging. Personally I consider him to be a kind of artist. I can’t imagine his kingdom without… … a drawknife. This tool is a must have for a traditional bow maker. A drawknife is a knife built of a blade with a handle at each end. It has a wide range of uses in our profession. From shaping the bow from wood logs to small precise operations. Much experience is needed to wield it skillfully. While using it be careful - one wrong move can ruin your whole project. The drawknife can be very helpful when A drawknife resting on a wonderfully you will decide to build… coloured Osage Orange stave. Note the difference between gold heartwood and almost white sapwood. … a flatbow. As the name suggests these bows are recognized by the flat limbs. They were used all over the world. Very often people living in particular places used its own bow designs. There are countless variations of flatbows from stiff tip Mollegabets to wide limb Pyramid bows. Short, long, wide, narrow, straight, recurved. Each of them has pros and cons. Why not to find your own style? Another type of bow used by our ancestors is… Bowyers peaceful Island. Here you can see a Mollegabet-inspired flatbow in progress. … a longbow. In traditional meaning it is a bow with D-shaped belly usually bending at its whole length. As the name suggests medieval longbows were pretty long, man-sized or sometimes even longer. Longbows are also relatively narrow. Both features are caused by medieval times when bows were supposed 73

to be easy to build (narrower bows are faster to make) and dependable (longer bows are less likely to break what is very important in the battle). Nevertheless, this design is also very effective. A longbow is kind of… … self bow. A self bow is a bow built from a single piece of wood. Some additions - like tips overlays or glued handle sections - are also acceptable in this type of bow. It may be crafted from boards or wood logs. They often may have some imperfections being a result of trees lifetime history. Self bows that are built from such special wood are called character bows. You can find out if it is gonna be a character bow when investigating… … a stave. That is what we call log pieces after they have been split. Usually we split wood using an axe, hammer and wedges. It is very important to do this process carefully and following the grain. You will be rewarded with more bows once owning those skills. As I used to say: “A stave-piece of wood that is designed to become a bow is a book written with the history of a tree’s life”. Osage Orange self bows that were hidden inside this stave. After rough shaping a bow it Both have similar lines. I call them twin bows. is time to start… … a tillering process. It is the most crucial time for the bow’s future. Tillering is the process when the stick starts acting like a bow. We draw a bow a little, check how the bend looks and then make some corrections; and again, and again. Then we draw it more, and repeat all the actions until the full draw is achieved, bend is balanced and looks good enough. I would say that tillering is essence of the archery - if it is well done, the bow will reward you with a long and amazing friendship. 74

A bow put on the tillering tree during the tillering process. You can see stiffer spots on the right limb. The tiller needs some improvements. These are only a few issues from the enormous world of bowyery. Making bows means learning something new every day. Fighting one’s weaknesses. Every bow is small step forward, especially the broken ones. Moreover, a bowyer needs to be as close to nature as possible to become better at his profession. It is not only about building bows, it is the way of life. 75



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Photographer: BERNIE STAFFORD Location: Delamere Field Archers



4th Anniversary Messages Happy 4th Birthday to “Field Archery News UK”!!!! Wishing you many more!!! Thank you Hels for all the hard work and endless positivity, you really are a star!!! Very best wishes from all at Dunbrody Archers!!!! Happy Birthday FAN UK Magazine! The Scottish Field Archery Association would like to wish FAN UK Mag a huge happy birthday. The Mag is always shared monthly on our Facebook Page and is warmly welcomed by many SFAA Members. It’s great to see articles of interest, event reports and general archery interest. Most of all, there are fantastic images of Archers enjoying a shared experience across the UK. It pulls archers across the UK together and gives a great showcase for our wonderful sport. A big thank you for all the hard work in putting FAN UK Mag together - it is obvious that it is a labour of love. All the very best from your Scottish brothers and sisters. 80



\"Coach's Thoughts\" Part 1: ~ Goal Setting ~ 82

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TRAINING LOG GOAL SETTING TEMPLATE - Word GOAL SETTING TEMPLATE - PDF 84



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Like every other archery club in not alone Ireland, but probably in Europe, Dunbrody Archers has been severely affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic. In the overall scheme of things our woes pale into insignificance when compared to what has been going on across Europe and the wider world. There will come a time again for archery, a time to get out into the fresh air and enjoy our sport while at the same time keeping our distance from our fellow enthusiasts. Training nights in halls may prove to be more problematic than open air practice on a course in woods, forests or open spaces (at least until a vaccine is found for the virus). Perhaps governments will recognise that such outdoor archery is similar to other outdoor sports where it is possible to maintain a safe distance, such as in golf and tennis. As with many clubs, Dunbrody Archers found it necessary to cancel a club shoot in March which was due to be held on the weekend following the closure of schools in the Republic of Ireland on Friday March 13th. It quickly became apparent that hosting a much larger shoot in June would also not be possible and so our two-day 100 x 3D shoot was cancelled for this year. Indoor training nights were stopped immediately and a group of archers who had intended attending the European Bow Hunting Championship (EBHC) 2020 in Confolens, France in late June did not hold out much hope of it going ahead as planned. Sure enough it was eventually postponed to July 2021. We all miss our sport, we all miss the banter and laughs associated with coming together to practice, participate or maybe just even chat without lifting a bow sometimes; but those days will return, those faces and voices we will see and hear again. For now we need to hunker down until the worst is over and we begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. ~ STAY SAFE from Dunbrody Archers ~ 88



OH Boyd’s “A Journey Through Archery” It hardly seems like four years since Hels first Pretty crude they were too... a straight but began this venture with the “Field Archery News bendy briar stripped of its thorns and strung UK” online mag. with binder twine was favoured. The bark was stripped off the limbs but left on to form a She always had a high standard and work ethic handle at the grip. but never really had due recognition for her work, other than the satisfaction of keeping Arrows were made of Norfolk reed tipped with archers in close contact with each other and short pieces of elder, the reed being pushed into properly informed on matters relating to the pith for to balance the arrow, a nock cut in archery. just above a knuckle of the reed for strength, was suffice and a pinch grip was used for the She certainly wasn’t appreciated in her former draw as we knew no other way. role and it was a good move to start this off on her own terms and it has proved to be a Crude but we got much fun and the arrows resounding success. despite any remote semblance to straightness flew reasonably well (-ish!). It’s a pleasure to write for this special edition but I will not write about technicalities but I must have been about 12 years old when I upon the romance of the arrow, and my acquired a Slazenger lemonwood flat bow with own journey into archery, which I do know 3 arrows for Christmas. something about. I loved it, it was the most beautiful thing in the Archery always had a fascination nurtured by world and the real arrows were pure magic. being brought up on cowboys and Indians and There was always a shortage of them as they cost Robin Hood books and in films; it then being half a crown each - serious money in those days. quite natural that this romance should continue to develop from that seed. Practicing without instruction, enough proficiency was gained to frustrate but there When I was a child, after the war was a time was born the thrill of the occasional arrow when we made our own entertainment and actually hitting exactly where you wanted it to. living where I did (on the Humber bank) having little, we were pretty good with country crafts. All archers know that magic as it’s a thing that we strive for in every single shot. One of the things that are used to do was to make bows and arrows, basic knowledge passed When I think of it now, we used to shoot arrows down to us as a tradition from older boys. high into the air to see where they came down. 90

I still have a scar on my shin where I was shot used to have on those lovely summer evenings. with an arrow by my friend during a friendly exchange, me not being quick enough to dodge When Mr Fox killed my chickens one night, out of the way in time. I waited all night in the barn upper window because I intended to kill him with an arrow. Now, if my grandkids did that I would have a fit! Being in practise, I was pretty confident that I could get him at that range but he never A highlight was once when I shot at a blackbird; appeared; presumably because he was well-fed must’ve got its wing tip because it rolled it over, with my chickens and so gave it up. At that time continuing its journey a little bemused and me I didn’t know it was illegal to do such a thing a little bewildered but ecstatic. and looking back now I shouldn’t have done it anyway, so fate saved me from committing a The bow eventually followed the string too murderous crime. much and had no cast at all, most unsatisfactory for a growing boy and although still beautiful, Business, work and family intervened and it it had outlived its useful life. wasn’t until I was seriously ill for quite a time and upon recovery had to learn to walk again Work, study and lack of time meant that I that I thought that would be a good thing to do. didn’t look at a bow for a long time, although One of my students was very interested and occasionally at country shows on the ‘have a go’ a member of a club, unbeknownst to me, kept the interest and thrill of it all. just down the road from us. Going along for a try I fell in love with archery again although My first serious longbow was bought from I did need some help with retrieving the arrows. Freddie Truman from his sport shop in Skipton. Gradually I was on the road to recovery, first However, I was mis-sold (unintentionally and on crutches and then on sticks and then uninformedly I believe), being completely unaided. overbowed with it and disillusioned, I did not persevere. The disappointment in this failure Buying a fabulous American flat bow, (the had a very negative effect on confidence and Sherwood) from Keith Gascoigne, that I still proficiency with a longbow for some time. love for performance and design. I learned to It was not until we moved to make arrows and eventually a bigger house in Saxby all got them right to match this Saints with an acre and a half lovely little bow. Eventually paddock where we kept I was able to shoot some sheep and geese and competitively at the NFAS made the hay when it was shoots, loving every moment time, that interest was and did quite well. Petty revived in archery. troubles with the Home Club meant us branching off I bought a cheap fibreglass to do our own thing in bow and matching arrows our own private wood, and when the bales were the theme being Medieval stacked they formed good Archery and from this I had fun and good targets, a longbow specially made entertainment for the kids to suit my strength and and for the many guests we suitability. They say it takes a year to get used to a new 91

longbow; I can verify that and have had excellent results with it eventually. The real highlight for me was that on my 70th birthday, four colleagues and I travelled to Agincourt following King HenryV army’s route. On the day of the birthday, in full armour and in the company of archers from all around the world (together with the Medieval Society) we shot through the villages of Agincourt, Tramacourt and Rousonville. Mustering at Masoncelle we were blessed at the church there (as was King Henry V), then were transported by horses and carts to the various shoot sites. Afterwards a magnificent banquet featuring It was from this understanding of the fare of the time in the huge banqueting hall camaraderie of archers, shared with us, at the Muse de Azincourt in front of the our small group (with the archers of 600 biggest roaring fire I have ever seen, with music years ago) that I conceived, designed and and entertainment in keeping with the time. undertook to do the Azincourt Archers 600 year anniversary tribute, serialised in The next day completed the competitions and this very magazine. we made our return. 92

The first phase was taken to Agincourt and Later we celebrated with a banquet in unveiled on the battlefield on the very spot the Muse de Azincourt banqueting hall. where the king declared victory. Pictured below is the Main Banqueting Hall at the Musee de Azincourt - a press photo with the Marshall of the French Archers, Le Mesanes). (Pictured above: This photo is taken at the Medieval fish market in Hesdin, between Azincourt And Crecy.) Present were five of the local mayors, the Vicomte de Tramacourt and the director of tourism for the area. This was very well received and it was taken on a tour of the area. (Pictured below: taken at Crecy, this features a rare image of the Mayor of Crecy on the left and the Mayor of Agincourt in the right. It is very rare that they get together.) To conclude, the journey in archery was rather a long way from those whippy Briar Bows of childhood to the longbow shooting on the field of Azincourt in the company of hundreds of like-minded archers, in armour of the period to fulfil a childhood dream almost 60 years or so later. 93

Archery has given me much, not just the for drawing a longbow at 200lbs at 32 inches, personal satisfaction we get from an arrow truly is the model for the powerful Archer in the hitting its mark, but from the camaraderie of Azincourt Tribute. Mark’s knowledge (he’s not archers which is special in the company of just an archer, he is a blacksmith too) and his archers. As a result of my work and the contribution by research and experimentation to friendships formed with the Medieval Society, our previously little understanding of how these I was made a life member of the Medieval magnificent weapons were shot and performed Society Bowmen - of this I am extremely proud has been monumental and the many blanks we and honoured. It has brought friendships, love had in our knowledge of medieval archery is even, sights and experiences never even gradually being filled by people like him and dreamed of. Archery brought me the privilege organisations like the Medieval Society. to do two portraits of Robert Hardy - the actor and author of the book, “Longbow, the If any one of you readers has got as much definitive study of the longbow in warfare”. out of this fascinating activity in terms of pure He headed a team to test the Mary Rose enjoyment and camaraderie as I have, you longbows and was a tremendous academic will be blessed amongst men. authority on the subject. ‘Tim’ was very patient and kind and very generous with I now wish Hels the very best of luck and his time - a true gentleman and it was thanks for the wonderful work on this a privilege to know him. outstanding digital magazine; and I hope Mark Stretton, the most powerful Archer in that I am around to celebrate the 10th the world, who holds the Guinness world record anniversary - OH Boyd. 94

Pictured below: OH Boyd with Mark Stretton (centre right & left). 95





“The Bowyer’s Diary” by Derek Hutchison, AKA ‘Del the Cat’! Lockdown Tinkering... Time for another article, but how times have changed as we hit this birthday issue. I expect lots of you are managing a bit shooting either in the garden or into your garage, and I’m sure plenty are making arrows sorting out their kit or maybe having a go at building bows. Maybe by the time this is published we’ll be able to shoot in small numbers while social distancing, let’s hope so, as there is a large field and several new bows clamouring for my attention. I’ve certainly made a few bows and posted a lot more on my YouTube channel (Del Cat), showing some of the tricks of tillering a bow and one illustrating how the “pyramid” design of bow works (that’s a bow of constant thickness with just a width taper); I even did one in response to a request about twist in bow limbs. Musing on what to do as a project, I’ve always wanted to do some aerodynamic testing of flight arrows so I started thinking about how to do it. There is tons of stuff on the web but much of it is too big or too short… I needed something in the Goldilocks zone, long enough for an arrow but small enough to fit in my limited space. A couple of main questions:- First how to get enough airflow (~200fps) with spending too much money… “too much” being relative, but I like to use what I have lying 98

around and to make stuff, as simply throwing money around isn’t as much fun. Mind, my Brother was telling me of his friend who, when he needs a big expensive tool for a job, he just buys it and then sells it when he’s finished with it! Not sure what the market for wind tunnels is like tho’! Secondly how to support an arrow in the airstream? It dawned on me that my dust extractor has a decent airflow and some arithmetic soon turned the 183 cubic metres per minute into a linear airflow through a 3” diameter pipe, in feet per second. The bad news is that it was only about 50fps. However, reducing the size of the pipe increases the air flow. The solution to mounting the arrow is to have the tunnel vertical with the arrow hanging down on a thin thread. The thread pulls down on a lever which presses on my digital grain/gram scales, when the air flow is switched on the drag pulls the arrow down and the apparent increase in weight will show on the scales… in theory! 99

I built a prototype and it worked remarkably well showing over 70% increase in weight when the fan was on. I got excited when I saw that the arrow was pretty stable and spinning fast. That’s the fletchings causing the spin I thought… but surely it was too fast? Ah!... It’s the fan causing a vortex making it spin! Hmm, next stage is to incorporate some baffles above the fan to help to give a more laminar flow. Well - that didn’t work very well... the arrow now dances around a bit. I tried to see the flow with a “smoke match” (something used for checking for leaks in flues), but it wasn’t very clear due to the relatively high flow. I did see it briefly and it looked fairly clean. The problem may just be boundary layers at the sides of the tube pulling the arrow back and forth. I think it needs a larger diameter chamber. Oh well... you can’t win ‘em all ! 100