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TRUEFLIGHT FEATHERS
NEWSLETTER 2010

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-- NEW! LOW COST, 100 COUNT FULL LENGTH BAGS
-- SUPER FAST BOWS NEED FEATHERS!
-- DR. ASHBY'S TESTS -- AND FEATHERS
-- THOUGHTS FROM BOB...
-- FLYING TARGETS
-- COMPOUND BOWS CAN SHOOT FLU-FLU'S!
-- NEW ARCHERY SKEET MACHINE...
-- EMAIL WORKS GREAT!... (WHEN IT WORKS!)
-- FATHER AND SON SCORE BIG IN ONLY 2 DAYS



NEW 100 COUNT FULL LENGTH BAGS

Trueflight's popular and cost effective Commercial Grade Full Length Feathers are now available in pre-counted display bags of 100 feathers each. The new full length bags compliment our 100 count die cut bags which have been available for several years.

Like the die-cut bags, the new full length bags feature attractive full color printed graphics, a pre- punched top hole for pegboard display, and a convenient recloseable zip lock top.

Orders for bulk quantities of 1000 pieces of a type and color can be packed in the new 100 count bags by us for the same low added charge of $0.50 per 100 as for die cut bags.

The new full length display bags are a low cost way to display our feathers in a most attractive, and convenient manner. Although the 100 count packaging is an option, it appears that the majority of feathers we sell are now being shipped in 100 count bags.



THOSE SUPER PERFORMANCE BOWS NEED FEATHERS!

Wow! We are now seeing bows with advertized IBO speeds as high as 370 fps. These bows are certainly marvels of performance and efficiency a real tribute to modern materials, engineering and production standards.

But how well do feathers work at these speeds? Very well! In fact we've heard several reports that some of these super bows were impossible to paper tune with out using feathers!

We have very good photographic evidence that feathers stand firm and upright doing their thing at speeds well over 300 fps. It isn't really surprising that the super performance bow do their best when shooting feather fletched arrows. These bows are putting a tremendous amount of energy into relatively light weight arrows in an extremely small amount of time. An arrow shot at these speeds is undergoing an acceleration in the range of 500 to 1000 G's. 1G is the normal force of gravity on earth. Astronauts are limited to about 10 Gs. This acceleration is just about the highest acceleration normally encountered by any complex object on earth. Think of going from zero to 240 mph in 10 milliseconds in your car.

We all know feathers provide excellent guidance in "difficult circumstances". Well, getting good, straight, consistent, and stable flight at such high speeds is right where feathers are at their best. The very light weight of the feathers not only adds to arrow speed, but also shifts the arrows balance point forward. The forward balance (FOC) adds to stability, while the aerodynamic "grip" of the feather web keeps the arrow flying "dead straight".

No matter what the arrow speed, accuracy and straight flight for straight penetration are what count. No matter how fast the arrow, it won't do it's job without guidance. We're proud and happy to know that on the fastest, highest tech bows ever built, feather guidance is still the "gold standard" when accuracy and straight flight count. (Which is just about all of the time!)



DR. ASHBY'S ARROW PENETRATION TESTS AND FEATHERS

Dr. Ed Ashby is known world wide as perhaps the leading expert in archery arrow penetration. For years, Dr. Ashby has conducted meticulous tests on African and Australian big game animals, using a wide variety of archery equipment. His findings were recently summarized in "Bowhunter" magazine. For maximum arrow penetration in large animals, Dr. Ashby lists 10 factors beginning with:

1) Structural Integrity of the arrow and it's components.

2) Perfect Arrow Flight. (Can you say, "Feathers"! Nothing beats natural feather fletching for straight, consistent arrow flight, regardless of slight problems in shooting form, equipment, obstacles in the arrow flight path, etc.)

3) Extreme Forward-of-Center (FOC) Arrow Balance. (Ie. The weight distribution of the arrow should be shifted well forward. Lighter fletching helps do this... and the only fletching lighter than feather fletching is no fletching at all!)

It's great to know that Trueflight Feathers are one of the factors that can make such a positive contribution to a successful hunt.

The full article by E. Donnall Thomas, Jr., appeared in "Bowhunter" magazine, September/Big Game Special, 2009, page 42. Dr. Ashby's reports are posted at: www.tradgang.com.



THOUGHTS FROM BOB LINK, TRUEFLIGHT FEATHERS V.P. / GENERAL MANAGER

Dear Friends,

What a tough year for so many folks in our country. Not a lot of good news out there. Despite all the grim economical news of 2009, we are very thankful for all the blessings that have come our way in orders from our loyal customers.

We are very thankful that we did not have to lay off any of our employees. We look forward to the new year with great hope that jobs would be available for all who desperately want to work. I also hope that we will be able to contribute to that

effort.

* * *

Our new Commercial Grade Full Length has been another real blessing, as it has made our grinding department much more efficient, which of course, is returned to you in better pricing. Commercial grade full length sales have been very solid and I would not be surprised to see an increase in sales over last year.

We are very proud of our new packaging for full length feathers. They really look great in those new bags! Customers get to see why Trueflight Feathers are the best. We believe our new packaged full length will enhance sales for customers who sell full length feathers.

* * *

When was the last time you tried shooting a flu flu arrow at a target thrown in the air? Well, this past summer was the first time my son, Jacob and I tried it with our longbow. Needless to say, we had too many misses to count, but we never got discouraged. Finally, we started to get closer and narrowly missed the targets and then - Celebration - we hit a few. Then we hit a few more. It's hard to stop tying and most of all, a heck of a lot of fun! The best part of our flu flu shooting was that we did it in our wooded back yard without wasting time looking for stray arrows. We had our share of stray arrows but thanks to a oldie but goodie way of building flu flu arrows (the "spiral wrap" method), they don't travel very far.

We even shot some of the "spiral wrap" flu-flu's through a whisker biscuit on our compound bows without destroying the feathers. I guess the only thing better would have been to have some type of launching device instead of throwing the discs by hand.

This year we were informed by one of our customers in France (L.A.S. Distribution/France Archerie) that they will be exhibiting a new automatic disc launching device. (Or "Archery Skeet"machine.) It's quite the machine, as we saw a video clip of it in action. The people using it really seem to be enjoying themselves, not to mention they really have some pretty good archers over there. If you're at the show, be sure to check it out as this could be just the ticket to getting new folks involved, especially the kids.

I also encourage you to stop by our booth, #1462 at the 2010 ATA Show and check out our way of building flu-flu arrows a lot faster, without any clamps or jigs. We hope to see you there.

A heartfelt Thank You to all of you for your continued patronage from all of us at Trueflight. May God bless you all!

Bob Link



FLYING ARROWS MEET FLYING TARGETS!

This summer we had a great time shooting aerial targets. All it took was making a few Flu-Flu arrows, then tossing a foam disk up in to the air.

I know, hitting a flying target seems like a "long shot". In fact we thought it would be darned near impossible for us mere mortals... and plenty hard for the pros like Bryan Furgison. But after a half dozen or "near misses", most of us actually managed a hit! Seeing one's own "minds eye" adapt to a new and complicated shooting situation in such a short time was really amazing. No, none of us are making 100% hits and we're still using a pretty large (18 inch diameter) target. But it can be done and worse yet, this kind of shooting is addictive.


Flu-Flu arrows can be simply made with a 6 fletch of 5 or 6 inch long feathers cut from full length feathers leaving the web full height. Just use a standard 3 fletch fletching jig. The web of the full length section will fold up inside the clamp and be undamaged when removed. Start with a standard 3 fletch (at 120 degrees each), then remove the arrow from the clamp, rotate the shaft 180 degrees, and re-insert the nock into the clamp's nock holder. You can now fletch 3 more feathers in the spaces between the original 3 getting a 6 fletch.

Another kind of Flu-Flu can be made by spiral wrapping 2 full length ground feathers around the fletching area of an arrow shaft, using contact cement as an adhesive. The spiral wrapped Flu- Flu arrows travel about 30 yards while the 6 segment type fly about 40 yards.

(We are able to supply specially prepared full length feathers which are ideal for spiral wrap fletching. Contact us for more details.)

Watching a Flu-Flu arrow fly is a fun thing in itself. We seem to see a very straight, fast and flat trajectory for about 30 yards, followed by an abrupt slow down and turn, with a gentle "float" to the ground.

The target used can be very simple. A crude circle of 1 to 2 inch thick foam plastic 12 to 18 inches in diameter works well. Ethafoam will last longer with multiple hits than Styrofoam. Even an empty or slightly filled plastic milk jug will do. The arrows won't fly more than about 50 yards, so space usually isn't a problem.



COMPOUND BOWS CAN SHOOT FLU-FLU'S!

We were amazed to find that Flu-Flu arrows of either type can be repeatedly shot from compound bows, including high performance 300 fps compound bows, without damage.

I would have bet anything that one shot across the cables of a compound bow would shear the web right off either type of Flu-Flu arrow. Not so! Unbelievably, the high web of the Flu-Flu goes right past the cables without any problem. High speed photos show that this is due at least in part to the "lean back" of the web segments at speed helping clear the cables, while the natural resilience does the rest.

We though we'd discovered something new about archery... only to see a TV show a few days later with folks happily shooting flying pheasants and "chuckers" right out of the air with their compound bows! While I think a traditional bow is easier to use for flying targets, these compound shooters sure were having a great time and the birds were falling.



THE LAPORTE COMPANY DEVELOPS ARCHERY SKEET MACHINE


Laurent Ivaldi with LAS Distribution in France sent us these photos of the Laporte company's new "Archery Skeet Machine" which launches foam disks just like a skeet machine launches clay targets. The Laporte company is well known for it's regular skeet machines. The new "Archery Skeet Machines" were put to good use by LAS Distribution in it's annual Archery Skeet tournament this summer. Looks like great fun!

For more information contact Laurent Ivaldi, LAS Distribution, Z.I. Des 3 Moulins, Route Des Cystes, 06600 Antibes, France, 0033615600864 (phone), 33 (0)4 93 74 13 76 (fax), Email: archerytrap@orange.fr Web site:www.outdoortv.fr



EMAIL WORKS GREAT... WHEN IT WORKS!

Almost all of our overseas customers are now using email to place orders and contact us for information. This has generally worked very well. Email is quick, convenient, and low or no cost. Also, it is easy to attach photos or documents to an email. We've really been amazed at how quick and effortless it is for us to communicate all around the globe... almost as easily as sending a message to an office next door.

There is however one nagging problem with email: It isn't always 100% reliable. We estimate about 5 to 10 percent of our messages never seem to arrive at their intended destinations.

Because of this, we always try to acknowledge incoming messages within 2 business days. If you send us an email and have not heard an acknowledgement from us within a few days, please re-send the message.

Similarly, when you receive email from us, please "reply to sender" with an acknowledgement so that we are sure you have received our message. A simple "OK" or "got it" is all it takes to let us know our message has been read.

We also try to use a "return receipt" request whenever possible. If your software is compatible, all it takes is a single click on the pop up box to let us know our message was seen.

email@trueflightfeathers.com



GREG BOCK AND SON TOM SCORE BIG IN 2 DAYS!


Congratulations to Greg Bock and his 14 year old son, Tom. Greg got his fine 228 lb. (163 score) Missouri buck on his first day out. Son Tom got his impressive 268 lb (156 score) buck nearby on the next day.

Text and Photos copyright 2009, Trueflight Mfg. Co., Inc.

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