You have purchased your perfect set of darts. Now comes the mind boggling decision of choosing the best flights you should be using with your darts.
It’s easy to be confused by the huge variety of shapes, sizes and textures of dart flights that are available for purchase. A quick a look here will have your head spinning given the number of options available.
Why Are Flights So Important?
So, what makes flights so important. Here are the top three reasons:
The Symmetry
The main purpose of flights is to stabilize the dart on its horizontal axis while it’s flying. If it didn’t exist, the dart would quickly lean forward and start whirling.
Because of that, flights have to have a perfect symmetry and good spread. If they become flat, the symmetry would be disrupted and the dart would lose its course.
Air Resistance
Yeah, you might be wondering:
How something as small as a piece of plastic can affect the air resistance of the dart?
Well, apart from providing the balance, the flights also have a huge impact on how your dart breezes through the air so they can make or break your distinct playing style.
Generally speaking, smaller and smoother flights will help the dart cut through the air more effortlessly. However, this option is also less forgiving and not that suitable for angle attacks.
Bigger and more textured flights will make the dart fly slower, but the additional “drag” will make variations with angles much easier.
The Weight of the Dart
Although the flight makes a proportionally small part of the dart’s overall weight, the variations are there, and they make all the difference in the world for experienced players.
Larger and heavier flights are better suited for longer shafts, steel tip darts and softer lobbed throwing styles (flying slower and gaining momentum while descending to the board).
Accordingly, smaller and lighter flights are meant for shorter shafts, soft tips, and harder, straight shots.
Let’s take a look at the two most common flight shapes, standard and slim.
Standard Flights
Probably the most common dart flight and also one of the largest. Standard flights should be used if you throw with less force or like to “lob” your darts at the board. You may also want to use standard flights on steel tip darts, if your darts are heavier, or if they have longer shafts. Heavier darts require less force to stick in the dart board and larger flights will help keep darts aloft for longer with a lighter throw.
Standard flights can also help to straighten and stabilize the path of a dart in the air. If your darts are consistently sticking in the board with the flight angled to the floor, you may want to increase the size of your flights. The added drag from larger flights will push the shaft of the dart upwards, helping to correct a downward angle. Ideally, you want your darts to hit the board at a perfectly flat angle, or with the flight pointing slightly upwards, not more than 5-10 degrees. Additionally, as longer shafts can have a tendency to “fish-tail” through the air, darts with longer shafts may benefit from the stabilizing effect of larger dart flights.
Slim Flights
Smaller than standard flights, slim flights are good if you like to throw harder, want to avoid “lobbing” your darts or if you use lighter darts or short shafts. Soft tip darters may benefit from using slim flights because soft tip darts are generally lighter, thus requiring a harder throw to stick in the board. Additionally, if your darts stick in the board at a high, upward angle (greater than 10 degrees) you may want to switch to a smaller flight like a slim. Smaller flights will help reduce drag in the air, allowing the end of the dart to drop slightly in flight. Finally, slim flights will help reduce the chances of bounce-outs and damaged flights from tight groupings, especially if your darts have short shafts.
The Things You Should Pay Attention to While Choosing the Flights
After reading all of this, you might be wondering:
Which one of them should I buy?
Here are a couple of considerations that should help you find the flight that suits your particular style the best.
1. Size
The added drag you get with the larger flight can counterbalance the weight of the longer shafts and prevent the darts from nose-diving when you throw them.
So, you may feel that huge flight on top of the even bigger shaft would turn your dart into flying stone, but you’re wrong. As long as shaft and flight are in balance, the dart will fly like a bullet.
2. Weight/Durability
As already mentioned, the weight of the flight has an impact on the overall weight of the dart, and allows for fine-tuning. Heavier flights also feature an improved durability, and their spread doesn’t become as compromised as the time goes by.
Here’s how the four major types are sorted from lightest to heaviest:
75 micron – Great for starters and social use.
100 micron – The most widely used variety on the market.
150 micron – Featuring improved strength and durability, 150 micron flights are mostly used for “lob attacks”.
Plastic molded – The heaviest, but the most durable variety.
3. Shape
Although the offer of the flight shapes you can find of the market is incredibly varied, as the time goes by, you will probably settle with some of these five most common types.
Smooth vs. Textured Flights
Smoother flights will drag less through the air while textured flights (like the embossed “Dimplex” flights) will drag more heavily through the air. If you find that your darts are flying just a tiny bit differently than what you want, you might try changing to a coarser or smoother texture while staying with the same shape. Flight texture can help serve as a “fine adjustment” to really dial in your game.
Spreading Your Flights
Remember to properly spread your flights before throwing your darts. You want the fins of all your flights to stand at exactly 90 degrees to one another, otherwise you will not enjoy the full benefit of the flight!
One of the best ways to keep your flights perfectly spread is to use aluminum flight protectors.
Aluminum flight protectors will also help prevent damage to your flights and you won’t have to spread your flights before each throw, allowing you to concentrate more fully on your game.
Keep in mind that you do not necessarily have to follow these guidelines! Many advanced, talented darters play with a combination of light barrels, short shafts and standard flights. If you are trying to find the best configuration for your playing style, try several combinations of flights, weights and shaft lengths. Experimentation will help you discover the perfect set of darts for your style!