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Post by firenock on Mar 3, 2009 21:09:41 GMT -5
I had the same difficulty smjOne plus is that once you are set up straight - any and all shafts should be the same in the jig - no changes needed to go from ST shafts to CX terminators (I think - haven't made sure) This is only true if the fletching are all the same thickness at the base where the clamp will be holding it. Aerovane and Aerovane II are both 0.80 +/-0.002 mm thickness. |
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royden
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Post by royden on Mar 3, 2009 22:26:29 GMT -5
I had the same difficulty smjOne plus is that once you are set up straight - any and all shafts should be the same in the jig - no changes needed to go from ST shafts to CX terminators (I think - haven't made sure) This is only true if the fletching are all the same thickness at the base where the clamp will be holding it. Aerovane and Aerovane II are both 0.80 +/-0.002 mm thickness. that is what I meant firenock ... once a jig is set straight and modified for aerovane II you shouldn't have to make adjustments to fletch shafts of different diameters. The Bohning jig (not the clamp) did need some modification in order to travel enough to get the fletch to the center-line of the shaft - not a big deal for me, a little carving and a little dremeling took care of it. |
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smj
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Post by smj on Mar 4, 2009 0:14:57 GMT -5
Hey firenock, thanks for jumping in! There is more to come with my posting, I didn't have time to get it all done in one shot! In reading your comments, I do feel a bit sorry that I didn't finish a bit more before leaving it be... As the fletch mounts on the shaft, the contour of the fletch will create lift - the air travels farther over the contour side, rather like an aircraft wing. Since one side is curved, the other not only flat, but with a void, rotation is certainly only one way and should be very definite! The point I meant to make is that most of us have a choice of rotation of the arrow. Broadheads are set up for this, and if you change the rotation of the shaft - it takes a bit to swap everything around. Is there, in the works, a fletch for opposite rotation in the future??? For those who like to "spin" the other way...
As to the modifications I did - I do state that I was not using a Bitz clamp - the photos show that - and it did require a bit of work to change over. I didn't have a straight Bitz clamp, and until the Aerovane II came along, didn't think I would ever again have use for a straight clamp! I am cheap... I did not want to run out and buy a new straight Bitz clamp just to try the new set up... Bitz clamps are ~$32 from Cabelas. I paid less than $8 for the one I had on hand, it barely worked with the bitz, but it did OK for straight fletching with regular plastic fletching. I could not get straight fletching to fly a broadhead well in the wind - so it was in a drawer gathering dust. Why not use it? As to changes to the bitz jig - didn't hurt it a bit! So again - being cheap - why not? I figured others out there might be cheap, too... Plus - if you don't have a bitz jig to start out with, the cost goes to around $70 or more... This can make modifying what you have seem like a great idea when it comes to trying something new! Plus, it really seems to work very well! I can not wait to go "play" this weekend!
PS - I measured one of my test arrows - 444.451 grains. That is fairly close to the 450 grain goal I really wanted. The camo arrows are around 480 grains. I'd thought these would be more in the 470 to 480 range, I forgot how much lighter the standard black shaft is than the camo shafts per inch!
They will be shot at 70 pounds, 31" draw, should be over 300 fps out of the 101st. These are Gold Tip XT 7595 black shafts. 130 grain total tip weight, standard aluminum insert, three Aerovane II fletch, standard GT nock.
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Post by firenock on Mar 4, 2009 8:55:44 GMT -5
So I got the white ones, which I was told could be made any color by applying a sharpie of what ever color I wanted. The material is supposed to take sharpie ink very well. I tried green… I takes a while to do, a long while to do enough for a dozen arrows, and the end result was not all that great. Maybe I need a fresh sharpie, one with a bit more ink in it! I quit at less than half a fletch, and do not recommend trying to sharpie your white fletching. My friend you need the right size sharpie to do the job. LOL I did the following in less than 1 stroke!  CAUTION! IF you decide to color it, do not color Aerovane before fletching it, only after. So it is glue onto raw plastic, not Sharpied plastic! |
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smj
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Post by smj on Mar 4, 2009 18:51:11 GMT -5
Holy smokes! I stand corrected. ;D
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Post by Buckshot06 on Mar 21, 2009 18:51:03 GMT -5
smj any update on the testing you was doing on these. I just purchased some at the D&T expo in Ohio today. I was just wondering if you have any suggestions or results with these yet  |
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smj
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Post by smj on Mar 21, 2009 22:02:07 GMT -5
I have done some testing, but I have not been able to actually get a documented - proper test format with repeatable results - so I have not posted anything yet. However - since you ask, I'll tell you what I have done so far - 1 - 40 yard shots 2 - 100 yard shots 3 - 40 yard shots with enough wind to make keeping the arrow in the rest with the cross wind - trophy taker rest - a bit tough to do! Two arrows have 3 fletch, one arrow has four fletch, 4 inch long, plain-jane duravanes. These were the 3 "standard" arrows. Three arrows, same build, but each arrow with 3 Aerovane II fletch, this gave me a total of 6 arrows. All arrows 7595 Goldtip, 100 grain tips with 30 grain threaded shafts in the back of the alum inserts. Total arrow weight is about 440 grains. Arrow speed is over 300 fps, but I do not have the exact speed with this arrow - yet. The other thing that I noticed, was that I'd not been shooting a lot as of late. Rather, I'd just gotten back to it recently. This does not make for the best accuracy on my part! So, knowing all of this, I have only a couple of observations to offer - 1 - At 40 yards, the only arrow to hit consistently low was the 4 fletch duravanes arrow. The others, all of them, I could tell no difference of impact. The last time out, I shot 3 arrow groups that I could put my thumb and pointer finger around. It did not matter which arrow I shot - but I can state that the 4-fletch did hit the lowest. 2 - At 100 yards, I shot 6 arrows. All 6 arrows hit within the blue ring of the target. Here is the target I was shooting at - www.amesallweathertargets.com/CC51LG.htmlThe 4-fletch duravanes arrow hit at 6:00 just above the blue ring. The other duravanes arrows hit at 3:00 and 9:00 just inside the blue ring. The three Aerovane II arrows all hit in the upper right quarter, between 12:00 and 3:00. They seemed to group tighter, and hold a bit flatter flight. 3 - The Aerovane II shot very smooth with the cross wind blowing. It was noteable when compared to the duravanes. I felt as though if I could get the arrow off the bow, and hold the bow steady, I hit what ever I wanted. I also shot a couple of 2317 arrows with 145 grain tips, about 675 grains total. At 40 yards, these big guys hit below the other arrows, about 20 inches lower. The wind took this arrow and blew the arrow fletch down wind a lot. Enough that I worried they might bend on impact. They did not, but the wind really played with them by comparison to either of the other arrows. The duravanes showed some of this, the Aerovanes seemed to not be bothered. I was impressed. I will eventually get a better test going, but my time has not been my own as of late! This weekend I am in Durango with my daughter visiting Fort Lewis College - not at the range shooting arrows. Our range has been closed as of 3:00 PM - due to an eagle winter roost along the river running below the range. Hence, I have not been able to get out to the range after work. However, this week the range opens up until sunset as the eagles have left the winter roost for summers pleasures, so we get our range back! (It is a deal we worked out with the CDOW, we only use the range during the middle of the day when eagles are off feeding, and leave when they come home to roost from November to March.) Anyway, my apologies, but this is all I can offer at this point. PS - Yeah, I know I said that I was not shooting all the well, keep in mind that I have gotten out to shoot a few times with these arrows, I have posted the results from the last time, which had me shooting better than I'd done back the first time out. Also, one time out would not be fair, would it? I'll take a few pictures next time out. |
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Post by BT on Mar 22, 2009 8:20:49 GMT -5
I think that you will find that 4 fletch is always going to under perform out at 40 yards and especially with plastics.
I wonder...since these vanes are designed to turn the shafts....is this an even bigger detriment to the 4 fletch design?.
I would think that this fact would be very detrimental in and of it's self.
Any chance (when you get the time) that you could fletch up one shaft with two vanes?.
I had great results with the NAP quick spins in a 2 fletch pattern and with the extreme rotation reported for these vanes, I would think that you would have similar results....with better trajectory heights to boot.
I'd be interested.
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smj
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Post by smj on Mar 22, 2009 8:41:37 GMT -5
Yes, I expected the 4-fletch to drop more then any of the test arrows. It was a control arrow, if you will, just to make sure the results I saw were consistant with expectations.
As to the two fletch arrow, I could do that... Although, my first thought is that I'd never hunt with a 2-fletch arrow so why would I??? Yet, then again, this is why we try new stuff - and if a two fletch arrow works well for broadheads, why not? So, sure, I'll give that one a shot as well and let you know!
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Post by Buckshot06 on Mar 29, 2009 17:12:31 GMT -5
I have tried these vanes yesterday and had pretty much the same results as smj.
Out to 50 yards I could tell no difference in flight in the Aerovane and blazers.
The Aerovane II did group better than the blazers at 50 yds but I also didn't find that my flat fight increased any with these vanes ether.
The Aerovane and blazers held the same flat flight but the Aerovane was able to hold tighter groups at the longer shots.
I need to shoot these more before I can give anymore opinions about them, but so far they do seem to help on the longer shots.
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