An arrow that leaves the bow aligned with its path drifts less in a crosswind

The summary today

Two models come near the question, and only one answers it. A computational fluid dynamics simulation of an Easton X10 shot at 57 metres per second at a target 70 metres away finds that, in three metres per second of crosswind, the arrow that leaves with no angle of attack moves at most 12.5 centimetres, while the one that leaves tilted by three degrees reaches 27: more than double. The model's explanation is that at three degrees the air separates behind the shaft, the layer around it turns turbulent and drag rises. The same paper shows that in flight the oscillation dies away on its own, because the centre of pressure sits towards the tail and shifts by a few millimetres, bringing the arrow back in line with the airflow: lock it in place in the model and the drift grows by another four centimetres. An earlier model that lets the shaft flex gives the arrow's attitude a small weight instead: drift comes almost entirely from lateral drag, and one degree at exit shifts it by about ten millimetres out of 245, while the rotation the arrow leaves with matters more. Nobody has measured the exit angle of arrows shot by archers and then their drift in the wind, so the link stands on physics rather than on field tests: transferred.

Also phrased as: "a clean-flying arrow holds the wind"; "tuning and crosswind"; "arrow angle of attack at release"; "fishtailing arrow and wind drift"; "clean arrow flight"

Evidence

• 2020
  Context Model Published later

  Flexible-beam model of Easton arrows in three metres per second of crosswind: for a recurve X10 600 at 70 m with a 120-grain point the drift is 253 mm, 232 of it from the lateral component of drag and 21 from the arrow realigning with the airflow; for a compound Protour 380 at 50 m, 72 and 3 mm. According to the author the part that depends on the arrow's attitude is about ten times smaller.

  The dynamic behaviour of an arrow in wind · James L Park

• 2020
  Context Model Published later

  In the same model, with 10 mm of flex and the same wind, a 140-grain X10 600 leaving with an angle of attack of minus one degree, which the author expects from a well-tuned recurve for a right-handed archer, drifts 235 mm against 245 when it leaves aligned. One degree shifts the drift by about ten millimetres, and in this direction it reduces it.

  The dynamic behaviour of an arrow in wind · James L Park

• 2020
  Context Model Published later

  For the author a badly tuned bow changes not so much the exit angle as the arrow's initial rotation: with 10 degrees per second of rotation and no wind the arrow moves 40 to 59 mm at 70 m with a recurve and 18 to 28 mm at 50 m with a compound. It concerns grouping without wind, not drift.

  The dynamic behaviour of an arrow in wind · James L Park

• 2025
  For Model Published later

  Computational fluid dynamics simulation of an Easton X10 launched at 57 metres per second at a target 70 metres away, in three metres per second of crosswind: if the arrow leaves with a three-degree angle of attack the maximum displacement reaches 0.27 metres, if it leaves aligned with its path it stops at 0.125. According to the authors, at three degrees the air separates behind the shaft and the boundary layer turns turbulent, so drag rises. No archers and no field measurement.

  Influences of an Arrow’s Aerodynamic Pressure Center on Recurve Bow Shooting · Wenfeng Shen, Liang Hu, Jing Hu, Yiming Xu, Xixia Xu, Jieqing Zheng

• 2025
  Context Model Published later

  In the same model the oscillation of the angle of attack fades during flight, because the aerodynamic moment brings the arrow back in line with the airflow. Locking the centre of pressure at 0.484 metres in the model keeps the oscillation wider and raises the drift by 0.04 metres in three metres per second of crosswind, by 0.02 in two and by 0.008 in a head wind.

  Influences of an Arrow’s Aerodynamic Pressure Center on Recurve Bow Shooting · Wenfeng Shen, Liang Hu, Jing Hu, Yiming Xu, Xixia Xu, Jieqing Zheng

• 2025
  Context Model Published later

  The same paper places the centre of pressure towards the tail, between 0.478 and 0.498 metres along the shaft, and finds it shifting by a few millimetres with the angle of attack. A model that keeps it fixed overestimates the drift by about 15 per cent on average in a crosswind, with the widest gap at three metres per second, 0.302 against 0.258 metres, and by about 8 per cent in a head or tail wind.

  Influences of an Arrow’s Aerodynamic Pressure Center on Recurve Bow Shooting · Wenfeng Shen, Liang Hu, Jing Hu, Yiming Xu, Xixia Xu, Jieqing Zheng

Status history

1. 1990 Not studied No one in the registry's bibliography has yet related the attitude in which the arrow leaves the bow to how far a crosswind moves it: the question is not asked, neither by calculation nor on a field.
2. 2020 Not studied The first model of drift that takes into account how the arrow leaves the bow appears, but it does not answer the question. In a three metres per second crosswind the drift of a recurve X10 at 70 m comes almost entirely from lateral drag, 232 millimetres out of 253, and the part due to the arrow realigning with the airflow is ten times smaller. Leaving with one degree of angle of attack rather than aligned shifts the result by about ten millimetres, and in the direction the model assigns to a well-tuned recurve the drift goes down. An initial rotation, on the other hand, changes the point of impact a good deal even with no wind. No comparison shows that the aligned arrow drifts less: the status stays not studied.
3. 2025 Transferred The first calculation that answers the question arrives. A computational fluid dynamics simulation of an Easton X10 at 57 metres per second over 70 metres gives, in three metres per second of crosswind, a maximum displacement of 12.5 centimetres if the arrow leaves with no angle of attack and 27 if it leaves tilted by three degrees, because at that angle the air separates behind the shaft and drag rises. The model also shows that the oscillation dies away on its own thanks to the centre of pressure shifting towards the tail: locking it in place in the model raises the drift by four centimetres. The effect is far larger than the one the 2020 model gave for one degree: the two models differ, and in this one flow separation comes in at three degrees. It is a model with no archers and no field measurements, so the status is transferred.

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• 32 studiesArrow aerodynamics: drag, boundary layer, vanes
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