Most wind flag manufacturers utilize Coroplast (plastic cardboard) for the tail section of their wind flags. This stuff is really cheap at about $16.00 for a 4′ x 8′ sheet. It is available in several colors and thicknesses. Lightweight, pretty rigid, easily cut to any shape and sign vinyl sticks to it. Several wind flag producers offer several shapes and configurations. A lot of them are shaped like arrows pointing in the wrong direction, opposite the wind flow.
The shape of the tail should be configured so as to capture as much wind as possible without sacrificing performance for design or weight reduction. MTC has elected to fabricate the Tracker Wind Flag tails out of thin (.0079) sheet aluminum. This material is lighter than Coroplast. Coroplast is available in factory colored base material and vinyl must be applied to at least one side. The MTC tail has vinyl applied to both sides resulting in a slightly (but mostly equal) the weight to Coroplast. Only the best performing shape and configuration is offered. This shape is the result of extensive trials and testing during many changing weather conditions. A rectangular-shaped tail provides more surface area than most other configurations. Top and bottom edges are folded to aid in straighten the material and reduce the top and bottom vertical wind bleed off. Beware of flags offered with multiple tail shapes, they can’t all react the same. Sign vinyl (5-year outdoor life) covers the major surface on both sides of our flag tails (bright Red and Yellow). True direction arrows of contrasting colors (Red on Yellow and Yellow on Red) display the actual wind direction. Vinyl numbers are available and provided to identify your flags placement. An adjustable balance attachment is anodized bright Red with a white indexing dot. Mounting holes are configured for multiple attachment opportunities. The tail is attached to the main body of the wind flag by two (2) 6-32 Socket Head Button stainless steel screws. Attachment of the tail is recommended to position it above the main shaft and not hidden behind the center pivot for better visibility. But either position options are available to you. Direction arrows are not applied for your choice of wind direction displaying preference. Instructions are provided for the arrow’s simple and easy application. Additional and replacement tails, vinyl and screws are available from MTC.
MTC had considered fabricating dual tail wind flags, so we and purchased a couple of them for testing. Right out of the box they appeared to be confused and unable to make up their minds. It was impossible to accurately identify the wind true direction. After applying more weight than we wanted to the back of the flag, they did settle down. The overall results were not much better than a good designed single-tailed flag. At off-angle positions, one tail shields the other tail from the wind making the second tail useless. If the added tail surface is desired, enlarging the tail size on a single-tailed wind flag is much more effective with less weight added. Additionally, dual tail wind flags work best when they are extremely lightweight. Lightweight directly contributes to “EXTREME SENSITIVITY”, but this can be misleading and confusing as erratic action may occur and require off-balancing or some restraint to naturalize this excessive motion. This and short coupling (overall length) enables them to respond quickly, this can also be accomplished with a single-tailed wind flag of the proper design. We found no action by a dual tail wind flag that could not be duplicated with a single tailwind flag. If there were any advantages of a dual tail wind flag, MTC would concentrate our efforts on that design concept. Perhaps someday we will attempt to design a three (3) tailed flag that goes up and down with training wheels, mud flaps, and directional signals. Someone maybe will think that is a more EXTREME SENSITIVE design than any other
A wind flag should react quickly and accurately to the wind no matter how many tails or shapes the design has. Those designed for airguns should perform no better than the wind flags we use for any other type of shooting. If they did, why aren’t all wind flags based on the dual tail airgun types?