Arrows making a noise

Valkamai

Member
Hi, several of my club mates have mentioned that my arrows make a whirring /whistling noise on the way to the target(this is indoors).
I am wondering if it is caused by my offset fletchings. Has anyone else experienced this?

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Rik

Supporter
Supporter
Usually if there is a whirr/buzz, it means a fletch is loose. I don't think I've encountered it from normal offset, secured vanes.

Leading or trailing edge coming loose is most common, but middle can happen as well (and is harder to spot).
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
It can also be caused by vanes with offsets that have a slightly different amount of offset for one of the fletches. The arrow will spin up to the spin rate defined by the offset but if one fletch is different there will always be an air cavity creating turbulence. Other reasons, very soft fletch material on fast bows will not be stable enough and oscillate. This will even happen with straight fletchings.
 
D

Deleted member 7654

Guest
All arrows make a noise, 'cos they move the air and that's what "noise" is. Just depends how close you are, how big the arrow and it's fletchins are and if it's spinning.
A warbow arrow flying past a couple of feet away makes one heck of a noise (I was behind a suitable protective barrier).
Del
 

Valkamai

Member
Thanks for the comments.

I have checked the fletchings and I can't find any that are loose in any places than you Rik.

Kidcurry I hope the Fletchings are equal as I put them on myself, all done with the same jig and at the same time. Also it isn't just one particular arrow that has this noise. My bow isn't especially fast, It's a recurve not a compound and I use reasonably heavy arrows so I am probably only getting around 180 fps.

Thanks del, I do understand what "noise" is and I can totally understand how arrows from a warbow would make a noise but there is nothing remarkable about my bow compared to others at the club.

[emoji848]

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geoffretired

Supporter
Supporter
Are you using fletchings that are different from the other archer archers?
I used Quick Spins for a time and they had a louder hissing noise than most.
 

Rik

Supporter
Supporter
if it's all of them, it was unlikely to be a loose fletch, but you never know...

Ruling out maintenance, it's most likely to be the type of fletch, rather than that they are offset (the norm) unless we're talking extreme offset?
 

jonUK76

Member
I heard a comment from someone (I think it might have been Jake Kaminski on a Youtube video) that "topping and tailing" the vanes, i.e. a dab of glue over the top of the leading and trailing edges to seal and prevent them lifting, significantly reduces arrow noise for him anyway. I think he's one of the few at that level that uses conventional vanes rather than spin wing types.
 

little-else

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
it there is a disparity between the pitch of the fletch and the spped of the arrow it may be that the vanes arent spinning the arrow at the correct twist so you get a buzzing because of the the disturbed air as the arrow has more forward momentum than can be balanced by the spin (if that makes sense). very common when I shot antique rifled arms and the bullet didnt match the rifling twist. They sounded like angry bees heading off towards the target. The cure there was to change bullet weight to get a speed that matched the rifling twist to give it gyroscopic stability. As you cant change the weight of the arrow you may need to tweak the angle of the offset (heavier the arrow the less the offset). As with all of these things it will be a VERY small change.
 

steve

Member
A warbow arrow flying past a couple of feet away makes one heck of a noise
Anyone that's played cricket will attest to the noise that a cricket ball, even at "military medium" pace, makes as it goes past you when you're batting. The noise from a genuinely quick bowler is a scary thing. Anything moving through the air at speed makes a noise.
 

Berny

Active member
what shape & height are your fletches!

i made a couple of sets using crow & pidgeon feathers cut to length but not height - they all whirred when shot!
 
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