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Lab Report: CT250 Flight Control
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Industry-leading Club Repair and Service and the Most In-depth Clubmaking Info, How-to's and Videos - only at The GolfWorks |
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CT250 FLIGHT CONTROL
By Britt Lindsey
Design Objective:
• Ultra Customizable
• Ultra Game Improvement
• Complement CT Family
The new CT 250 Flight Control driver was developed to give club builders more options in a high performance driver line all types of golfers can use. While the success of the original CT 250 Driver line in 2004 speaks for itself, we wanted to take the technology to the next level of customization and give club makers an opportunity to tailor the ball flight pattern to an individual golfers needs. While the original CT 250 driver offered slight face angle and loft variations for this purpose and an enhanced perimeter weight distribution for forgiveness, the goal with the Flight Control series was to add a choice of how the mass is distributed in the head, which can have a positive effect in correcting the errant ball flight tendencies of many golfers.
While the last year has seen some unique innovations from the major OEM manufacturers with regards to weight adjustable drivers, professional club makers have not had a truly innovative and high performance option with which to achieve the same result. No doubt, 2005 will see numerous component club heads with “adjustability”. Being adjustable just for the sake of being adjustable is not innovative, and in many cases may only be cosmetic. We feel the adjustability should be at the direction of the club fitter, and once the correct adjustment is chosen and incorporated into the head for the purpose of improving flight characteristics, it should remain intact. We see that direction already happeing in the major OEM options. The options are chosen and then set, permanently. A second major benefit is in design – having removable weights means beefing up the sole so that the consumer cannot “strip out” the receptacles. That adds cost, and reduces the amount of weight that can be moved.
To accomplish this customization capability, we had to think outside the box. Our goal was to produce a head that could be set to have neutral, heel or toe weight bias. We discovered that, by using a weight made of rubber and tungsten, we could accomplish more than simply move the weight. The tungsten, with a very high density (much heavier) compared to titanium, added the additional concentration of weight. The rubber provided a part that was easier to install and dampened the sound at impact slightly, which can be quite loud on large titanium drivers. The combination of the mass distribution and the sound modification makes the CT 250 FC one of the straightest, and most solid feeling drivers we have ever developed.
The CT 250 Flight Control Driver features an Investment Cast 6-4 Titanium body and a forged SP700 Beta Titanium face. The investment cast titanium increases the consistency from head to head. There is less welding, since the entire head, with the exception of the Beta Ti face, is one piece. The casting process also permits more intricate design features, such as the weight cavities in the Flight Control drivers. Although the casting of the titanium requires a special oxygen free furnace and is a more expensive process, there are many fewer reject parts. That is why many of the popular major OEM drivers use the casting process, instead of the less expensive forged process, for the body. Because of our tight tolerance and performance requirements, we chose the casting process and one of leading facilities for casting titanium, to manufacture the CT 250 Flight Control drivers. The face is beta titanium, is forged under very high temperatures and provides great strength to the face. The face has a variable thickness, which expands the performance area of the face. We wanted to expand the “optimum” area of the face and the variable face design did that. We also maintained the high CT (Characteristic Time) rating that is designed in the original CT 250 design (The Characteristic Time method is the method of measuring the amount of time the ball is on the face, which the USGA instituted in 2003 to replace the COR or coefficient of restitution measurement of ball speed off the face.) Every modern manufacturing process available for producing a titanium driver was incorporated into the CT 250 Flight Control driver series.
The CT 250 Flight Control offers weight distribution options that permit a draw bias ball flight, a fade bias ball flight or a neutral ball flight. The rubber tungsten weight is 14 grams and at the time you order the head, will be installed into the position of your choice, in the heel side for the draw bias, the toe side for the fade bias and in the center for the neutral ball flight. Why 14 grams and not 50 grams? There needs to be a balance on the effect such adjustments may have on overall trajectory and the effect such adjustments have on the center of gravity location. 14 grams is enough to positively influence without a true negative trade off. The remaining chambers are filled with rubber inserts that weigh only 2 grams. This slight adjustment in the weight distribution on the outer perimeter and rear of the head plus the choice of materials used, produce what we feel (based on our testing), is the best overall ball flight and feel available. The Flight Control adjustment options will not take a fader or slicer to the kingdom of draw or hook, or visa versa. But they do offer a fine tune weight adjustment option to enhance the fit of the driver. The overall fitting must be the biggest part of the equation.
The CT 250 Flight Control has been in development for almost 2 years. We’ve incorporated the extremely positive feedback from our extremely popular CT 250 drivers, telling us we were on the right track. We developed a method of incorporating a fade or draw bias without requiring three different models of heads, keeping costs reasonable and improving quality significantly. And we watched as the idea of on the course interchangeable weights created a flurry of imitations, many of which are poorly designed. The design decisions we made on the CT 250 Flight Control drivers are deliberate, well thought out and tested – what you have come to expect from the Maltby Design Studio! I know I had a lot more fun playing over the last year with my CT 250 driver. I can't wait until next spring when I can enjoy this CT 250 Flight Control even more, if that is possible. |
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