short fletchings???

[Birdbow]

I 've experimented with 4x2" and 4x3.25" feathers and heavy point weight. Found that the 2" were good with some points but not good with others. The 3.25" were consistently good with variations in point type and weight. The pic is of wild turkey feathers (3.25) I dyed.

[vintage archer]

The A&A feather concept was probably the last Dr Ashby findings that I bought into. I was always used 5" or 5.5 high profile feathers on all my arrows.
When trying to achieve a FOC of 30% or more I broke down and started to again experiment to see if short fathers really would work for me.
By experimenting I was able to get down to 2.5" feathers and increase my FOC 2%. Ashby says that by decreasing the weight on the rear of the arrow by 1 grain it is the equivalent of adding 5 to 7 grains up front. I think that ratio depends on the arrow specifics but there is  defiantly a  correlation .

If you have a well tested bare shaft small feathers are fantastic.
Like Jim B mentions they should be tested in all wind conditions .Dr. Ashby advocates this also. I was lucky and my arrows fly like darts in all conditions tested. .My only problem is always hitting what I want to        

I do know that to much feather can make noise and alert game of the approaching arrow . So short feathers have another purpose than trying to improve FOC