Flight bow & Arrows Test Shots

 I only took about 5 shots, the string was coming off, probably due to oscillations after the string had hit home, as there was no limb damage.
Furthest shot was 301 yards, that was the penultimate shot. I was getting used to the flipper and could watch the arrow onto the brush rest and loose without having to consciously think about how to do it.
I was a tad disappointed, but realised I didn't actually know the draw weight at that length of draw.
When I got home I tested it and it was only 32 pounds! So 300 yards is very respectable.
None of the arrows broke and the furthest was 170 grain. The quadrant bamboo arrows flew well and the neon yellow paint showed up well. The superglued thin card fletchings seemed to work well, although one had a chunk taken out of the vane that pointed down.
I think those limbs could have drawn much further, but the string issue needs sorting.
I've cut a couple of inches off each limb and I'll mount them with less deflex. That's made the tips wider, so I have room to improve the string alignment and maybe incorporate some tip stiffness and string catchers.
All in all a good learning session.

Wooden Flight Bow & Arrows

 I've been beavering away with the flight bow test bed, mounting boo/Yew limbs in a plywood shoot through riser (several videos on my Youtube channel ( @delcat8168) ).

I've had a test shot which was promising, but now the problem is making arrows! I'm experimenting with 4 section cane arrows made from heavy warbow cane arrows, sawing them along their length sanding the sawn faces and gluing back together, then repeating the process having rotated the shaft 90 degrees.

I'm also experimenting with compressing wood using heat and pressure like was used to produce "forgewood" shafts back in the 70's 80's.
Making arrows isn't my fave, but a flight bow isn't much good without them!
I changed the set up to use 2 5ton jacks, draped an insulated blanket over the rectangular tube sections to hold the heat in. I clipped the moveable rectangular tube up underneath the top one while I blasted hot air through them from a hot air gun while the wood was steaming. The wood was about 20mm square and 20 " long. When it was compressed it was sawn along the length to give two shafts.
i think I squeezed a bit hard as a load of resin came out despite it being very old timber.
I need to experiment with other wood.
It certainly proves it can work as a DIY process.
If anyone wants to do full length arrow shaft, I'd guess you'd want 3 jacks or two heavier duty ones.
The rectangular tube was 60x30x3mm wall thickness. The other metal was odd stuff I had lying around.