Wind-Reading Lesson from Bryan Litz

Q: What’s more important — wind speed, or direction?

A: Obviously they both matter, but they do trade dominance based on direction. For example, a 10 mph wind between 2:30 and 3:30 is only changing its value from 9.7 to 10 to 9.7 mph (bracket of 0.3 mph). However a 10 mph wind between 11:30 and 12:30 is changing its cross wind component value from 2.6 mph left to zero to 2.6 mph right (bracket of 5.2 mph). There is the same 30° change in direction, but this results in a massively different bracket.

Point being, in this case, a direction change is far more critical if it’s near 6 or 12 o’clock. A small direction change when it’s close to 3 or 9 o’clock is negligible.

On the contrary, a change in wind SPEED when it’s near 3 or 9 affects your crosswind component directly. But for a near head or tail wind, a fluctuation in wind speed only causes a small fraction of a change to the crosswind component.

SUMMARY: If you’re in a near full-value wind, pay more attention to wind SPEED. If you’re closer to a head- or tail-wind, nailing the exact DIRECTION will be more important.

Get More Tips on Bryan Litz Ballistics Facebook Page
This post is from the new Bryan Litz Ballistics Facebook Page. FB users should check that page regularly for more tips from Bryan, American’s leading ballistics expert and founder of Applied Ballistics LLC.

READ MORE TIPS HERE: www.Facebook.com/BryanLitzBallitics

Bryan Litz coaching Team USA in Canada using a WIND PLOT.

Wind-Reading Lesson from Bryan Litz

Q: What’s more important — wind speed, or direction?

A: Obviously they both matter, but they do trade dominance based on direction. For example, a 10 mph wind between 2:30 and 3:30 is only changing its value from 9.7 to 10 to 9.7 mph (bracket of 0.3 mph). However a 10 mph wind between 11:30 and 12:30 is changing its cross wind component value from 2.6 mph left to zero to 2.6 mph right (bracket of 5.2 mph). There is the same 30° change in direction, but this results in a massively different bracket.

Point being, in this case, a direction change is far more critical if it’s near 6 or 12 o’clock. A small direction change when it’s close to 3 or 9 o’clock is negligible.

On the contrary, a change in wind SPEED when it’s near 3 or 9 affects your crosswind component directly. But for a near head or tail wind, a fluctuation in wind speed only causes a small fraction of a change to the crosswind component.

SUMMARY: If you’re in a near full-value wind, pay more attention to wind SPEED. If you’re closer to a head- or tail-wind, nailing the exact DIRECTION will be more important.

Get More Tips on Bryan Litz Ballistics Facebook Page
This post is from the new Bryan Litz Ballistics Facebook Page. FB users should check that page regularly for more tips from Bryan, American’s leading ballistics expert and founder of Applied Ballistics LLC.

READ MORE TIPS HERE: www.Facebook.com/BryanLitzBallitics

Bryan Litz coaching Team USA in Canada using a WIND PLOT.

Along with the iPhone/iPad display, Caldwell’s new chronograph features a front-facing display screen on the green, barbell-shaped chrono body. As with most other chronographs, the Caldwell unit records velocity of each shot, average velocity (of shot string), Standard Deviation, and Extreme Spread (difference in FPS of fastest shot and slowest shot). One nice feature of Caldwell’s new chronograph is that it can be calibrated. That sounds promising, but remember that to calibrate any chronograph you need test ammo with a very accurately determined baseline velocity. In any case, Caldwell asserts that this new Chronograph is more accurate than some other units on the market, because it runs a faster processor and because it has the calibration option. We haven’t tested the unit yet so we can’t verify claims of improved accuracy.

The Caldwell Ballistic Precision Chronograph comes as a complete package with carrying case, sky-screens, and data cable. No price has been announced, but we expect it to be under $150.00. Incandescent lamps, which are suspended above the sensors, will be available as an optional accessory. These lights permit the unit to be used indoors.

Android OS Capability in the Future?
Currently, the new Caldwell Chronograph is only able to send data to iOS (Apple) devices. However, the data cable is not Apple-specific, so there is a chance that we may see Android OS compatibility at some time in the future. At SHOT Show in January 2014 we’ll ask the Caldwell technicians about compatibility with Android smartphones and tablets.