Step by step instructions for how to build a flight bow.
A flight bow is a bow that is made for one purpose only, to shoot as far as possible. Threw out history almost all cultures on earth have used the bow and arrow for not only survival but for entertainment and sport. Flight bows and arrows are typically short as to have less mass, the flight of the arrow imitates the gliding of a bird and in its swiftness and how it seemingly defies gravity.
Making a Flight Bow
THE flight bow is the ultimate in the
bowyer’s field. Many flight bows are
made, shot once and then abandoned. Or,
they may shatter during that single use
and go into discard that way. Just the
same, flight bows serve a valid purpose in
the archers’ world, for they are somewhat
like the Formula cars in international rac-
ing—paving the way for future develop-
ments based on their performance.
To make a record-setting flight bow is
the aim and dream of many a bowyer—a
goal all too seldom realized. Because flight
bows are the final word in bowyery they
are seldom, if ever, commercially pro-
duced. You just cannot go into your
nearest tackle shop and buy a flight bow
You may be able to have one made for
you, if you’re lucky, but essentially the
flight bow is a personal thing. It conforms
to you and to your ideas. It may be the
result of months of planning and days of
work and when once it’s finished, you will
be faced with the decision as to whether or
not you’ll overdraw just once, in the big
gamble which may—or may not—pay off.
For these reasons, any plans for a flight
bow must be offered somewhat diffidently.
They are the end product of someone else’s
thinking—not yours—and they may not
embody the ideas and principles which you,
as a bowyer, feel are necessary for suc-
cess. However, the bow which resulted
from these particular plans is a lovely
thing, light in the hand, sweet in per-
formance with no harshness on the hand.
Surprisingly enough, there seems to be
no drastic stacking up at the end of the
draw and there is comparatively little
pinch. However, since all good flight
shooting today is done by means of the
hook, the matter of finger-pinch is rela-
tively unimportant.
The plans have been designed by Frank
Bilson, one of England’s foremost archers,
and in his capacity as head of the Yeoman
Bow Company, a liveryman of the Wor-
shipful Company of Bowyers. These then
are the plans and specifications of the
Yeoman Flight Bow (Copyright 1960)
Many flight bows, following the prec-
edent established by the Turkish and Per-
sian bowyers, carry the big siyahs, or ears,
which impart additional impetus and cast.
Now siyahs were developed long before
our new synthetics and it is our contention
that using modern fiberglass, it is no longer
necessary to incorporate them in flight bow
design. Since the siyah is not an integral
part of the limb-arcs, it is slow moving in
relationship to the bow itself. Thus, with
the materials available today, i.e. those….
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