Any thoughts on the different shapes of flights? Pros/Cons? I am wondering what the perks of the different shapes are, and what the strengths/weaknesses of each shape may be, as well as your opinions. It seems most of the top players use standards, but I have not thrown with them in a long time, and am currently thinking about switching them up. Thoughts?

The best answer I can give you is to try them out. Trial and error is the only way.

I use standard shape flights myself. I switched from tear drops years ago to help straighten my darts up. It has worked for me, in conjunction with changes to my throw.

I often wonder this myself. For instance if 2 flights have the same surface area but a different shape how can that change the aerodynamics?

All I know from personal experience is that with lighter darts of 21 to 23 grams a standard flight for me seems to make the dart more floaty, a slim flight needs a more direct (harder) throw and it is similar with pear shape, whereas a kite flight is somewhere in between.

Thats just my own observation, but I prefer standard shape. I have not tried all shapes though. I did notice that when I tried the Sigma carbon darts the darts seemed to zip through the air for me, not sure if that was soley down to the Sigma flights though.

my 2 cents

I was under the impression that a dart and its setup is constructed to correct a throwers mistakes.
So for me its a long skiny heavy barrel with short nylon's and pear shape flights. to get my darts to land flatter (thats the way I like it).

standard shape flights droop for me but turn it around and it is a little less.
kite shaped flights are 85deg up but turn them around and they are 87deg down
pears land 85-90deg to the board.

Smaller flights speed up the dart thus changing the angle it lands in the board due to the kick of the dart when it is in flight (3/4 way through kick when it hits the board as opposed to a slower dart).<------does that make seance.
I have a bit of kick in my dart due to releasing the dart to tip downward . The dart will release slight tip down then go tip up mid way through flight and finaly kicking back down just before it lands. A smaller flight seems to get it to the board quicker before it kicks down to far.I cannot for the life of me get rid of this so thats prob why flights make so much of a differance to me.
Stem length also changes how fast or slow this kick happens.

As for shape vs surface area try turning a kite around and you are basicly throwing with a shorter stem. <----and they look cool. just dont poke your eye out.

This is just my observation with my OWN throwing action (mr kicky)

I went with the smallest flight that let the dart land flat in the board - kite with an extra-short stem (I have longish darts: the barney phantom grip). Standards (either kite or stem) force my darts to land pointing upward which I don't like. And because standard flights are larger, they block more of the bed which bothers me.

I experimented with every shape, size and thickness I could find and finally settled on what I use now.

If I could find a way to throw a dmx or even smaller, I would, but I need the stabilization of the larger wing since my throw is a looooong way from perfect.

In another year or so I'll go back and experiment again but I'm still terribly inconsistent (as in still hit the odd 12 or 18) as I'm constantly tweaking my throwing motion but I feel like I'm getting very close to finding "my" throw. I'm somewhere near the 50 180's mark for the year and have hit as many as 4 in one day, so overall I'm a much, MUCH better thrower than I was six months ago, but not where I want to be yet.

I use slim flights and a short stem on a 24g barrels and that makes my darts stack on top of each other like taylors

bump

i like sigma and dxm or even smaller. Depends on your throw. If you like consistent large arcs and slow flying darts use standards or dimplex standards. Slow can be good because you can see your darts path better and adjust.

I use small small small , as a result my dart flys faster and flatter but bad technique could make it tumble which is very bad

I used standard size for the longest time. My darts always landed kind of crooked in the board. Started playing soft tip (years ago) and switched to slims. Ever since I did my darts went in the board straight and flat. Wish I would of experimented sooner.

I just got a few sets of big wing durro flights, they look similar to the vortex flights, not sure if I want to use them though as they dont make them anymore.

for some reason, i can't use standard flights.. i've been using slim flights so long that the standards look so big and bulky.. anyone else have trouble using standard flights?

just recieved my ultra slim cosmos fit yesterday from A-Z darts! I agree, after switching a year ago I love the slims

I've PM'd u loopdog

I personally like standard shaped flights most. I believe they are the most corrective flights to flaws in a throw. However, there is no right or wrong across the board. You really need to just experiment and find a setup that works with your natural throw.

I got my phase 5. Stuck the slikstiks on, dxm flights, usual grip and they made a right bang against the wall and kept falling out.
Put standards in the slikstiks and worked perfectly fine.
Or with the slikstiks, if I changed grip, they went fine.

MVG's
Put standard flights into 48mm stems and were lying down a bit. So stuck in some 40mm and they were perfect.

Lewis'
Used the ones in the box. Stood up, went where I wanted. 48mm slanted to the left.

Priestly's
Short stems do what they want but long stems go wherever I want them to.

Phase 2 purists do whatever they want

It's all whatever u like and how they fly for you

10 minutes with any set of darts, set up any way, and you should be able to get the dart to land how you want it to.
How comfortable or consistent you are with it is another story.

Flights and shafts are cheap. Buy a couple different shapes that interest you, a couple different lengths of shafts and experiment. If you find one that you prefer, stick to it. If you've just started to play, stick to it for a few months then experiment again. You may find that something that didn't work before is not as bad as it seemed.
I've got a heap of darts that I carry with me to league nights in case anyone forgets theirs, wants to try something new, etc. Short to long barrels, micro shafts to extra long, 1/2 dozen or more different flight shapes. I can throw all of them so they land as I want them to....flat. But standouts are the ones I can throw comfortably because my consistency automatically improves.

I've played long enough to know my throw and what i like but to this day I still try as many 'new' products as I can. I've been surprised a few times. The Super Kites from Cosmo being one of the more recent surprises.....

When I got my new set of darts this past weekend I went from 20g to 23g and a slightly longer dart. On my 20g darts I used kite flights and threw straight with little loft, but less accurate.

My new 23g darts are longer, but when I tried them with my usual kite flights I got a lot of fish tailing, so when I switched to standard it straightened out my throws and were more accurate.

My opinion, don't think about just the flights, take into account the shafts. I've always been told more surface area on the flight straightens out quicker, now what does the shaft have to do with this equation?