Besides maybe the Quick Spin slowing the arrow considerably I can't figure out why there would be such a difference. Anyone got any ideas or know what's going on.
many years ago while I was shooting heavy aluminums and a recurve with sights, I tested straight fletch vs. helical at fifty yards on the practice range. Group center was about six inches lower with helicals. This was long before Blazers or Quick-spins, and I used five inch feathers on both otherwise identical arrows, shooting four of each type many times to be sure I was getting representative results.
As RJ days above, the energy to make 'em spin has to come from somewhere. They do impart more drag, and that slows the arrows more, especially downrange.
On the other hand, when I tested them in my backyard on a windy day, with the garage protecting me from the crosswind until the arrows had gone about a third of the way to my twenty yard target, there was a very noticeable difference in reaction to the sudden application of the sidewind. The straight fletched arrows immediately skewed sideways and drifted well off course, hitting about a foot downwind of the aiming point. The helical fletched ones reacted with a much smaller wiggle and corrected to hit about two inches downwind of the aiming point.
My more recent testing with vanes and faster arrows seems to show less dramatic differences.
In calm to moderate winds, I have tested using carbons and newer compounds, and a more moderate rate of twist (those early tests were using a pretty severe helical, about all I could get with my Bitzenberger). The drop was much less using vanes and the lower twist rate, almost negligible at forty yards. have still never tested with quick-spins, but since they are supposed to induce a faster spin rate very quickly by design, I would assume they also require about the same energy from the arrow to create that effect as my "screwed-on" feathers did back when.
Like many other things, it's a trade-off. For a western hunt where I would more likely encounter buffeting crosswinds in draws, I'd still favor a pretty good helical. For whitetail hunts in the woods around home, I doubt that I'd be in the woods when the wind was that bad, and I'd stay with straight fletch, myself. But I always tune for good BH flight with FBBH's well before season. I think if I was having trouble controlling a FBBH, I'd also go with at least the helical, and maybe the quick-spin, even here. The consistent placement accuracy is more important than the extra few fps downrange. The higher drag is a good tool to fix a problem if you have it. If you don't have the problem, it's a waste of speed that could be better used elsewhere. Your own testing with your own equipment will be the best indicator.
