Another ? on Windflags

MDOlson

New member
I'm buying my first set ... Grahams. Can't decide between the daisy or ball flags. Is it only a matter of preference, or are their advantages/draw backs to each?
 
Matter of preference

There are many reasons for the individual preferences and many with no basis. Last I observed, the "Boyer Bunch" were using daisies. Ed Watson cleaned house for years using a small balsa triangle stuck on a piece of piano wire.
 
Ball or daisey wheel is just a matter of personal preference...If I were shooting at a range with little or no wind a daisey wheel would be helpfull indicating small wind pick-ups and let-offs in different areas of the range...
If I am shooting windy/switchy wind (which is all we have in west Texas) I prefer the ball type..and watch my "snuffy" sail tails and/or surveyors tape...

That is just the long and short of it..:D
 
Daisys

Like every thing else with my flags, I have spent a lot of time perfecting my daisy wheels. They have aluminum hubs mounted in them that holds a 1/4 inch ball bearing. They will turn when there is hardly any thing being detected over the entire range.

I use them to detect these very light conditions, often what you see in the early morning matches.

In my opinion, if daisys are not this sensitive, then they are of little use. They should start turning even before the tails start to react.........jackie
 
The problem, from my experience

one faces with calm conditions isn't the slight movement of air but what has been discribed here as the result of what may be Wake Turbulance. Often when we are absolutely sure we can shoot every bullet into the same hole we experience less than desirable results. From my experience, one had better be more concerned with who is shooting close to them and when they are shooting than anything one can discern from flags in very light conditions. I learned this, like every other lesson I have learned in life, the hard way.

If there is enough wind to move the flags then one can read them with some degree of certainty. For that reason I forsook DASIES. In my opinion they don't tell you Jack. I have experienced one of my competitors win a match using only one ball flag. As long as one flag is in the right place, that is enough. The problem is, where to place it. :D
 
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MDOlsonAs

As you can see, opinions vary on the subject of daisys, as it does with many things in Benchrest........jackie
 
I think it important

that folks hear all sides of these kind of issues. The community is divided, to some degree on the issue of flags and dasies. Some of the best shooters in this game use very simple flags. They obviously can deal with them and do well. KISS
 
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The plastic hub , standard issue , is as bad as it gets, IMO. They need
a bearing. I have used brass bushings and they are ok, but not great.
They must be balanced perfectly with tails, or your getting dis-information.
 
I think Jackie has the best idea on daisy wheels. If you don't have equal friction or turning resistance on all of them they are of no use. The ones I have are plastic hubs and if you set them side my side in the wind you have each wheel turning at a different speed, and I found that to be confusing.

The nice thing about wheels is they give a three dimensional picture which makes it easier to read a quartering flag.
 
I'm sorry

I expressed myself so fervently. One can't go wrong with most of the style flags available for sale. I have noticed a slight trend to ball flags in my neck of the woods. I shoot over flags that have dasies in full rotation events, I just don't pay much attention to them. It's the way I learned to shoot: a set of those little orange triangles made from Balsa, from directions on this site.

The important thing is to learn what the flags are telling one.
 
Daisy Inertia

Soooo... I have shot mostly over Ratigan-style flags -- no ball or wheel at all. The key element of the design is that the pivot pin is positioned about 1/4 of the way down the wind-bearing surface. I guess I like them because I can build them in minutes, and I can explain their sensitivity my likening them to the counter-balanced control surfaces on my airplane. Repositioning the pivot pin can definitely change the sensitivity.

I have shot over daisies a few times when I was sharing a bench and the thing that concerned me most was that the more sensitive the daisy was to pick-ups (i.e. good bearings), the less sensitive it was to let-ups. Seems to me that the better the bearings you put in the daisies, the more the inertia of the wheel spinning will hide any let-ups. A little drag in the bearing surfaces might make them less sensitive to pickups, but would slow them quicker in the let-ups.
 
FlagsI

I have a brand new high dollar lap top that I am supposed to be able to do anything with, I will give it a try.

Over time, multitudes of fellow shooters have shared a bench with me, and used my flags. Every one to a person absolutly love them.

Here is a good test of you daisys. Hold the flag up in a still condition and walk slowly with it. If the daisy does not start turning, then they are not sensitive enough.........jackie
 
We all have our ideas on windflags. You need to use what is comfortable for you. The daisys are like a flywheel, they take a while to get started and they do not stop soon enough with a letup. A flag needs to be weighted slightly to the tail to rid yourself of the twitching windshield wiper effect. They need to have bearings on both the pivot and the propeller if used. If you look at the Aussie windflags you will see a propeller that both starts and stops instantly with pick ups and letups. The 3 colored propeller helps you tell angles. You might also notice the clip that holds the tail. It keeps the tails from twisting and turning. They will pack 6 into a little plastic fishing box. Are they inexpensive? No, but what is more important than reading the wind?
DSC02118.jpg

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Check the photos.
Butch
www.shadetreeea.com
 
It is as simple as this, go to any match where a lot of flags are in use. Most will use some sort of Daisy not all, but probably over 75%.
 
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