The bow type provide general information about a bow's performance, allowing the most appropriate selection of defaults. The selection can be changes any time, but it will impact ballistics if the "Manufacturer's" or "Design" bow speed source is selected as it will overwrite some parameters (e.g. length, brace, virtual mass, draw, drop-off, plunger position, draw length tolerance, minimum arrow mass, ancillaries etc.) with new sensible defaults.
Optionally select a manufacturer from the list. Presently this is only used for documentation, but in future updates may be used to provide addition information for tuning.
Go to the bow manufacturer's web site if you are connected to the internet. Will open in the default browser.
Optionally enter the model name. Like manufacturer's name, presently only for documentation, but in future may have greater use.
Select the limb material from the drop-down list. This information is for an initial estimate of bow efficiency, virtual mass and temperature sensitivity.
Most bow manufacturers rate their bow performance in some way. The rating below can be used to estimate a bow's performance.
The manufacturer's draw rating and draw length are entered here. For non-compound bows, it is common for a bow to be shipped with individual draw weight and draw length. The draw length is typically 28" however the archer's optimal draw length is likely different and hence the draw weight will also be different.
If the check box is checked, the actual likely draw weight is
calculated from the archer's actual draw length and placed in the
Draw_Weight field in the Bow>Dimensions
panel. The check box defaults off and can be checked then unchecked for it
to be applied immediately for an initial value. A value of zero or
negative value for either field will disable the calculation.
For advances compound bows, this tends to be the bow speed but not the speed of your particular bow. It is the speed for a version of the bow model that is adjusted to one of the bow measurement standards. FlyingSticks will then adjust this claimed speed for your particular draw weight, length and arrow mass.
The bow measurement standard is selected here. The AMO standard is now obsolete, replaced by the ATA which in turn supports the "international" standard ASTM F1544-11. The IBO standard is similar to the ATA but with significantly laxer tolerances. Many archers are traditionalist, so the older legacy standards are still in common use, particularly amongst bowhunters.
Arrows below a certain mass become a problem for a bow. The available energy on release must be dissipated somewhere. If it is not in the acceleration of the arrow, then it is towards the destruction of the bow. The value entered here is the minimum arrow weight per units of bow draw force, typically 5 gr/lbf. Sets the threshold that flags an underweight arrow.
Traditionally the figure is used because it is easy to use, but is not well founded, so should be accepted as an imprecise guideline.
For hunting setups, it is sometime used as a means of encouraging heavier arrows for better penetration, which is conflation of a totally different issue.
The following features can be enabled or disabled. The parameters fields associated with a disabled feature will either be hidden or disabled in the panel that defines them.
Non-center shot bows add to the complication of the ballistics. It is best if FlyingSticks knows if additional computations are is required.
Declares if a sight is fitted to the bow. It exposes the "Sight" tab in
the calculator, allows "Reverse Ballistics" bow speed calculations and
enable the display of the Sight Tape window. If
not checked the Sight Tape buttons 
in
the bottom left areas of the Target, Trajectory and Calculator Windows
will be greyed out.
Declares if an arrow rest is fitted. See the Bow>Ancillaries panel.
Declares if a plunger is fitted. Used to determine if plunger adjustment is an option in spine matching and tuning. See the Bow>Ancillaries panel.
Declares if a clicker is fitted. Used to assist in estimating draw length tolerance and its impact on vertical grouping.
Declares if one or more stabilizers are fitted to the bow. Enables the "Stabilizer" tab in the calculator.
Indicates if the bow is a custom combination of riser and limbs. If checked the details in the Riser & Limbs panel.
For compound bows and crossbow, indicates if custom cams as specified in the Riser & Limbs panel are fitted.
Indicates if a mechanical release aid is being used.
Not used.