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History Channel - Warriors

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ChrisD:

--- Quote from: alanesq on April 08, 2009, 03:51:28 am ---
It was very good to see a T.V. program which emphasised the draw weight required for a English longbow (used in war) and pointed out how the arrow gains speed as it drops which a lot of people dont realise
Unlike a lot of programs I see where they talk of "the mighty longbow" then show someone shooting a 50lb butt bow ;-)
e.g. I saw a program on Channel 4 last year where they "demonstrated" that the arrow from an English Warbow would bounce off a dead pig - how could no one involved in making this program not have questioned this ?????

BTW - I know from talking to a few people who have been on such programs that the info. they eventually put out is often not what the archer/bowyer had told them etc.
so whatever was said by the T.V. program don't hold Steve responsible


--- End quote ---

Alan, of course you are right its en-ter-taaaain-ment and should be viewed in that way. Also, programme makers don't give editorial control to contributers. The problem is that my post on the velocities achieved was in response not to the video link but to a post from Stevesjem in which he categorically stated that arrow speeds were 180mph on leaving the bow and the same or even higher on arrival at the target. He then deleted his own post (quite why the moderators tolerate this behaviour is beyond me!) when I pointed out that this simply could not be right. What I think happened is that confusion arose because of use of mph and f/s at different ends of the arrows arc. At the beginning, with a decent archer and a decent bow it is about 180f/s and at the end its 100mph (or 147f/s) at least with some arrow types.

Apropos of nickf's post which I responded to - I should point out that the higher speeds at the end of 'Warbow' with the lighter arrow were actually at about 5.6grain per pound at which 210 f/s was achieved as an initial velocity so that kind of sets the upper limit of speed for a light war type arrow in a 150lb longbow.

You are right that an arrow speeds up as it descends - but that is true of all arrows. They start off with lots of kinetic energy, convert it to mostly potential energy at the apex of their flight and then they descend and convert all that potential energy back into kinetic energy - almost. No system is entirely efficient and at the point of arrival, some energy will have been lost, mostly to friction with the air and that is why velocities are lower on arrival of the arrow. If you want to avoid loss of energy, you need to go to outer space or somewhere else where there is a vacuum.

Hope that clears up any confusion.

Chris

alanesq:

Thats fair enough - just didn't want Steve to get lots of flack for what they said on the program when I know he will have had little/no say of what was put actually put out

The arrow speeding up as it comes down is one of those things which is obvious when you think about it but a lot of people don't realise/appreciate this and just assume the arrow gets slower the further it travels
I know Mark Stretton did a lot of work on distance/arrow speed and its very interesting how choosing the angle you shoot not only varies distance but the power the arrow will arrive with

youngbowyer:
I watched it and i just loved it for what it was(Great Job,Steve!) I laughed when terry struggled to pull that 60 pound bow, you can see that it,s hard to pull back a bow as he is in the army and should be used to that.

stevesjem:
Thanks Alan for what you wrote, I appreciate it, also thanks to youngbowyer as well.

Chris I decided to remove my post as I felt that the information I wrote may be incorrect, I have since checked my figures and also tested the arrow speed through my chronograph and my findings were not as I originally stated, also what was interesting was they were different from yours, however I am someone who is willing to accept it when I'm wrong. Have you any results from tests you have done or are you just quoting from a book?

Cheers

Steve

ChrisD:
Steve its good of you to say that the figures you quoted were a mistake - I only wish you'd left your post as was and added an addendum much as I did with my response to nickf - that way, the continuity of the conversation is maintained and people don't end up with posts which look like complete non sequiturs because what they are responding to has disappeared! (and you have to admit, I was civilised/but to the point in the post - no accusations, just that a mistake must have been made because humans do err from time to time , particularly when enthusiastic about a topic).

No I don't have a chronograph and so I am relying on the experience of others (who as you well know do have chronographs and use them regularly) - but thats no reason for me not to post. I am an archer who has shot over 350yds with flatbows in company with others shooting even further (who have used chronographs) so I have a good idea of what I would be expecting speedwise. But don't be coy, tell us what figures you have achieved, what bow you used  and what arrows at what range. Thats what the thread is really about and what is interesting.

Chris

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