boomerang

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('mə-răng') pronunciation
n.
  1. A flat, curved, usually wooden missile configured so that when hurled it returns to the thrower.
  2. A statement or course of action that backfires.
intr.v., -anged, -ang·ing, -angs.
To have the opposite effect from the one intended; backfire.

[Dharuk bumarin.]

WORD HISTORY   The words we have borrowed from native languages of Australia, such as billabong, budgerigar, dingo, kangaroo, koala, kookaburra, waddy, and wallaby, generally have the exotic sound of down under, and boomerang is no exception. In a book about the languages of New South Wales published in 1790 is found the native term boo-mer-rit, glossed "the scimitar," because of the curved shape of the boomerang. In 1825 in a passage containing the first recorded instance of the English form boomerang we are told it is "a short crested weapon which the natives of Port Jackson [now part of Sydney] project with accurate aim into a rotary motion." In 1827 another commentator says that this term "may be retained for want of a more descriptive name."


(1887-92) was a radical Brisbane weekly founded by William Lane and Alfred Walker; after Lane's departure at the end of 1890 it was edited by Gresley Lukin. Two notable staff members were Henry Lawson, who wrote 'Country Crumbs', a summary of news from the provincial press, and A.G. Stephens. Lawson's attitude towards his retrenchment from the Boomerang is recorded in his poem 'The Shame of Going Back'. The demise of the Boomerang is often thought to have inspired 'The Cambaroora Star', but although Lawson called his poem 'the Boomerang's own epitaph' he linked 'The Cambaroora Star' more firmly with the Republican. There were several earlier, less significant journals called the Boomerang (Melbourne, 1861 and 1894; Sydney, 1877).

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Curved throwing stick used chiefly by the aborigines of Australia for hunting and warfare. About 1230 in. (3075 cm) in length, the returning boomerang varies in shape from a deep curve to almost straight sides of an angle. The ends are twisted or skewed in opposite directions. It is held at one end, above and behind the thrower's shoulder, and swung forward rapidly. Just before release, the thrower adds spin by flicking the wrist so that the stick will loop around and return to him. Returning boomerangs were used only in eastern and western Australia as playthings, in tournament competition, and by hunters to imitate hawks for driving flocks of game birds into nets. The longer, straighter, and heavier nonreturning boomerang can kill animals and even humans.

For more information on boomerang, visit Britannica.com.

Gale's How Products Are Made:

How is a boomerang made?

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Background

A boomerang is an aerodynamically shaped object designed to fly efficiently through the air when thrown by hand. The term usually refers to an object made to follow a circular flight path that returns it to the thrower. (Some sources describe all aerodynamic "throwing sticks" as boomerangs, separating them into "returning" and "nonreturning" categories.) Traditional designs are V-shaped, but newer versions may have irregular shapes or more than two arms.

Two design components give the boomerang the capability of circular flight. One is the arrangement of the arms, and the other is the airfoil profile shape that allows the arms into wings. During flight, the boomerang spins rapidly (about 10 revolutions per second). The wing profiles create the same lift effect that makes airplanes fly. In addition, the spinning motion creates gyroscopic precession, which pulls the boomerang into a circular path. A similar effect can be seen with a spinning top: if the top's axis is not quite vertical, the upper portion of the toy travels in a circle around the axis.

For a successful flight, the boomerang must also be thrown correctly. It should be held near the end of one wing with the top (curved) surface facing the thrower's body. The boomerang should be almost vertical, with the thrower holding the lowest arm. Depending on wind conditions and the design of the particular boomerang, the upper portion may be inclined up to 30° outward. After drawing the arm backward, the thrower hurls the boomerang with an overhand motion, much as a pitcher would throw a baseball. At the moment of release, the thrower adds a snap of the wrist, as if cracking a whip. The release angle should be between horizontal and 15° above. If there is any breeze, the boomerang must be thrown between 30° and 90° to the right of the on-coming wind (or to the left for a left-handed thrower; right-and left-handed boomerangs are mirror images of each other).

As the boomerang flies forward, it begins to slowly roll over (counterclockwise for a right-hander), ultimately flying horizontally with its flat side down. When it returns to the thrower, it is caught safely at chest height, trapping it between open hands in a sandwich fashion.

Recreational throwers simply enjoy playing a solitaire game of catch. Those who are interested in competition can choose from a variety of events, including precision (returning as close as possible to the launch point) and endurance (making the most catches in a five-minute period). The inter-national record for distance traveled before returning to the thrower is 780 ft (238 m), in a flight that lasted nearly 22 seconds. The record for maximum time aloft (MTA) is two minutes, 59.94 seconds; the unofficial MTA record, which was witnessed but not thrown in a sanctioned competition, is an astounding 17 minutes, six seconds.

History

Boomerangs developed as a refinement of carved throwing sticks (kylies) that were used as weapons, primarily for hunting. The oldest kylie found to date is one formed from a mammoth tusk. Discovered in Poland in 1987, its age has been carbondated at about 20,300 years. This 2-ft (60-cm) long, 2-lb (0.9 kg), gently curved implement was probably thrown to kill reindeer. A plastic replica of it has been found to travel an average of 90 ft (27 m) when thrown, although throwing it into a head-wind increases its range to an average 123 ft (38 m).

Kylies were used by prehistoric people in all parts of the world. Usually made of wood, they were banana shaped; both faces of each arm were carved into curved, airfoil surfaces. When thrown, they traveled parallel to the ground for distances up to 650 ft (200 m), spinning furiously toward their target. Typically 3 ft (0.9 m) long and weighing 5-10 lb (2.3-4.6 kg), they were effective hunting tools.

There is some evidence that boomerangs were developed in several cultural groups. For example, a boomerang-shaped object found in Germany was made of ash wood. Carbon-dated to an age of 2,400-2,800 years, it is preserved enough to allow archaeologists to reconstruct its entire shape. The replica has been thrown left-handed to produce a complete boomerang trajectory; however, the wing profiles were less than optimal, making it difficult to throw successfully. Evidence suggests that boomerangs may also have been developed in Egypt and India.

In all areas except Australia, hunters devised spears for throwing and bows for shooting arrows, and they stopped using kylies. The Australian aborigines, however, continued to hunt with throwing sticks. Experimenting with designs, the residents of the eastern and southern parts of that continent developed boomerangs, which they used primarily for sport. At major tribal gatherings, they held competitions based on such qualities as the precision of the return and the speed and quality of the flight. Boomerangs were not thrown at animals of prey, although they were sometimes thrown as decoys to lure birds into a net.

The oldest boomerang found in Australia dates to about 14,000 years ago. The origin of the word is uncertain, although it may derive from the cry "boom-my-row" ("return, stick") that British colonizers heard Dharuk tribesmen shout when throwing the instruments in 1788. The traditional method for making a boomerang was to select an appropriately curved piece of wood, usually from the section where the tree trunk joins a large root, making an angle of 95-110°. If necessary, the angle between the wings was adjusted by heating the boomerang over a fire and bending it. The aerodynamic profiles were carved from the wood with an axe, smoothed with a flint, and polished with sand. Designs might be carved into the surfaces, either for decoration or to improve the flight characteristics. The wood was sealed with fish oil or paint.

Boomerangs remained a relatively obscure curiosity until about 1970. A workshop about how to make and throw boomerangs was presented by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. It sparked great enthusiasm for the sport, and the Smithsonian began sponsoring annual tournaments on the National Mall. The first international championship tournament was held in 1981.

Raw Materials

A wide variety of materials can be used to make a boomerang. Wood remains one of the most popular because it produces good results, is relatively inexpensive, and is easy to work. Generally preferred is aircraft-grade Finnish or Baltic birch plywood, which is laminated from very thin layers of wood. A 0.2-in (5-mm) thick sheet will have between five to 10 layers. To protect the wood from moisture, it is usually sealed with a polyurethane coating.

Among the synthetic materials that may be used for boomerangs are polypropylene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) plastic, fiberglass, carbon fiber, linen-phenolic resin laminates, and Kevlar para-aramid fiber. Toy boomerangs made from urethane foam or cardboard can be used indoors.

Design

Because proper spinning action is crucial to the performance of a boomerang, there are some fundamental concepts that must be followed during the design process. However, those basic elements leave a great deal of room for creativity, and boomerang makers frequently experiment with innovative shapes.

When creating a new pattern, the designer marks a point in the middle of a sheet of sturdy paper. This first guide mark denotes the center of gravity of the boomerang. As the designer continues to sketch the boomerang, he or she must take care to balance the shape around the center of gravity point. The other important consideration is that the centerlines of each wing of the boomerang must point generally toward the center of gravity (i.e., within 10° in either direction). So the second set of guide marks the designer makes on the paper are the centerlines of the wings. Within the limitations set by the guide marks, the designer can then sketch as basic or whimsical design as desired.

After the design is completely drawn, the designer cuts it out from the sheet of paper. By hanging the pattern successively from the end of each wing, the designer can verify that the planned center of gravity has been adequately preserved. This will be true if the centerline of each wing hangs within 30° of vertical.

Serious designers who seek more precise methods can use more sophisticated techniques, including computer-aided design software.

The Manufacturing Process

The following description focuses on making a V-shaped plywood boomerang. Synthetic materials are worked in a similar manner, but some generate dangerous dust or fumes when being cut or sanded. In this case, dust masks and protective clothing are essential.

Forming

  • The plywood sheet is checked for flatness. If it is not completely flat, it is oriented so the concave side will correspond to the top surface of the boomerang. This significantly increases the boomerang's strength, and it raises the wingtips slightly for better aerodynamics.
  • The pattern is placed on the plywood so that the wood grain runs across from the tip of one arm of the boomerang to the tip of the other arm. The outline of the pattem is traced on the plywood with a pencil.
  • A scroll saw, jigsaw, coping saw, band-saw, or fret saw is used to cut the boomerang shape out of the plywood. This basic cutout is called the blank.
  • As an alternative to cutting a single-piece blank, two separate wings can be cut, allowing a section of overlap where they will be joined. Using a router, half the thickness of this overlap section is cut away from each wing. The overlapping sections are joined with wood glue and clamped together until the joint hardens.
  • An outline is drawn on the top of the blank to show the areas to be shaped for the leading and trailing edges of the wings.
  • The profiles of the wings are shaped with a belt sander or by hand with a rasp or a plane. The top of the leading edge of each wing is decreased at a 45° angle, while the rear of the wing is angled down to leave a 0.04-0.08 in (1-2 mm) thick trailing edge. The bottom face of the leading edge is cut back slightly. The tips of the wings are shaped down to the same thickness as the trailing edge. The various layers of the plywood serve as contour lines that help the worker achieve uniform slopes.
  • A shallow section may also be cut out from the bottom surface of each wing. For example, this might consist of a 2-in (5-cm) long strip near the wing tip and behind the leading edge.

Finishing

  • Using progressively finer (80-250 grit) sandpaper, the surface of the boomerang is smoothed carefully with an orbital sander or by hand.
  • After spraying the surface with sanding sealer, fine steel wool is used to further smooth the surface. A coat of paint or wood stain is followed by one or more coats of clear polyurethane finish.

Tuning

  • The boomerang is thrown several times to test its flight capabilities. Several types of adjustments may be made to tune the boomerang for better performance. For example, the wing profiles might be adjusted by additional sanding.
  • Another tuning technique is to bend the wings, raising their tips about 0.12 in (3 mm) above the plane of the vertex; this is called giving the boomerang a positive dihedral. It may be necessary to heat the boomerang to make it flexible enough for bending and to make the adjustment permanent. This can be done with steam or even in a microwave oven.
  • Twisting the wings to raise or lower the leading edges can also affect the boomerang's performance.
  • Other tuning techniques include drilling holes through the wings, cutting slots in the leading edges of the wings, or drilling shallow holes into the underside of the wings and inserting lead or brass plugs to add weight.

Quality Control

Throughout the manufacturing process, the quality of the boomerang is periodically checked. Any unevenness in the boomerang such as unequal sides or bumps will take away from the aerodynamic design. Boomerangs are sanctioned by comities such as the World Boomerang Association and the United States Boomerang Association (USBA). These groups set the standards and rules that any boomerang competitions must adhere to such as safety, skill, and timing.

The Future

Boomerang innovations can be developed in two areas: materials and design. As new materials are developed that are strong, durable, and lightweight, boomerang makers will try using them individually or in combination. For example, the boomerang that flew for more than 17 minutes consisted of a two-layer outer shell of carbon fibers and Kevlar; the shell was filled with epoxy resin mixed with phenolic microballoons.

Two recent innovations suggest ways that designs can be modified to improve aerodynamics. One involved making the upper and lower surfaces of the trailing edges of a boomerang's wings slightly concave. Normally, these surfaces are flat or slightly convex. This design was used for the boomerang that set the current world record for distance. In the other example, a boomerang's wing tips were cut at an angle that made them perpendicular to imaginary lines leading to the center of rotation. Usually, the wing tips are perpendicular to the centerline of the wings. This modification was created by the holder of the unofficial MTA record.

Where to Learn More

Books

Mason, Bernard Sterling. Boomerangs: How to Make and Throw Them. Mineola, NY: Dover, 1985.

Periodicals

Drollette, Daniel. "Field Notes: Return to Sender." The Sciences (May/June, 1998): 16-19.

Lane, Marke. "Classic Boomerang." Work-bench (June/July 1996): 36.

Valenti, Michael. "The Return of the Boomerang." Mechanical Engineering (December 1993): 68.

Other

Amateur Boomsmith. http://www.uku.fi/-hniskane/workmain.html (October 27, 2000).

[Article by: Loretta Hall]


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verb

    To produce an unexpected and undesired result: backfire. See surprise/expect.

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v

Definition: backfire
Antonyms: work


from Dharuk
This word originated in Australia

It all comes back to you, doesn't it? That's the beauty of the boomerang, a hunting tool, weapon of war, and toy invented by resourceful aborigines in Australia. Invented long ago, too; a preserved boomerang recently recovered from Wyrie Swamp in South Australia dates back some 10,000 years, or 9,800 years before anyone spoke English in Australia. Just a simple crescent of wood, but it gets around.

In recent years, the boomerang has gone around the world, starting with the first international competition between Australia and the United States in 1981. Ten years later the World Boomerang Association was founded. There is a United States Boomerang Association and three dozen U.S. clubs. Competition events now include throwing for accuracy, distance, speed, and MTA or "maximum time aloft." A different kind of boomerang is used for each event. The record set by John "Air" Gorski for an MTA throw and catch is a full seventeen minutes. Materials come from around the world, too, the current favorite being aircraft-grade Finnish birch plywood. The 1998 world championships, held near St. Louis, Missouri, involved eighteen teams from a dozen countries on five continents. The next world championship was scheduled for Melbourne, Australia, in 2000.

The name boomerang comes from the Dharuk language, once spoken along the southeast coast of Australia, where Sydney now stands. The first English notation, in 1798, renders it as wom-ur-rang, but by 1827 it was the now-familiar boomerang.

Nowadays you will search in vain for a speaker of Dharuk. Even when Dharuk was spoken, there were few speakers of that language. But it was from the Dharuk that the English learned names for many of the exotic Australian creatures: dingo (1789), wallaby (1798), wombat (1798, not a bat, but a bearlike marsupial), koala (1803), wallaroo (1827); the kurrajong tree (1823); the corroboree (1811, a nighttime festival); and two kinds of weapon, the waddy (1790, a stick that doesn't come back when you throw it), and the boomerang.



A weapon usually associated with Australian Aborigines, although versions of the idea have also been observed in Africa, America, and India. Boomerangs come in various shapes and sizes, but all share certain key characteristics; they are V-shaped, with one flat and one curved side, and operate using a complex mixture of aerodynamic and gyroscopic effects. Boomerangs have recently become popular for sport and recreation, but their original use was to stun small game and to ‘reload’ quickly if you missed. Also used to describe any action which results in the discomfiture of its initiator, such as the Germans introducing poison gas on the western front when the prevailing winds were against them.

— Paul Cornish


[Ar]

A curved throwing stick, one form of which can be made to return to the thrower in flight. Several kinds of boomerang are traditionally used by Australian Aborigines for hunting and fighting. Archaeological examples from widely scattered findspots including Egypt, Holland, and Poland suggest the autonomous invention of this weapon.

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boomerang ('mərăng'), special form of throwing stick, used mainly by the aborigines of Australia. Other forms of throwing sticks were used by the peoples of ancient Egypt, Ethiopia, and India and by the indigenous peoples of the SW United States. The boomerang is sickle-shaped with arms slightly curved in opposite directions as in a propeller. The trajectory of a boomerang is usually an arc, but in some cases it is a full circle. The boomerang of the Australian aborigines (from whom the name is derived) is made in two types. The smaller boomerang, 12 to 30 in. (30 to 75 cm) long, is used only for sport and is thrown so that it returns to the thrower. The larger war boomerang is 24 to 36 in. (60 to 90 cm) long and does not return; it is used for hunting and warfare.


An American slang term that refers to an adult who has moved back in with his or her parents (who are part of the baby boomer generation) instead of living independently. The phrase, when applied to an individual, makes reference to the fact that the person lived independently for a period, but subsequently returned home due to the financial costs associated with maintaining a separate household.

Investopedia Says:
While boomer parents may be pleased emotionally to have their boomerangs back in the household, boomerangs can often pose a significant financial burden on their parents. This can result in a reduction in retirement savings for the boomerang's parents, leaving them with the decision to either postpone their own retirement or have their children help out with the household expenses.

Other countries have adopted similar slang to represent this domestic phenomenon. In Italy, the term "mammon", or "mama's boys" is used, while the Japanese refer to them as "parasaito shinguru", or "parasite singles". In the U.K., children boomeranging back home has given rise to the acronym KIPPERS (or kids in parents' pockets eroding retirement savings).

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to boomerang, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Boomerang.
A typical wooden returning boomerang

A boomerang is a 'V' shaped flying tool that is usually used as a weapon for hunting purposes, usually by tribes. It is also used for sports or for entertainment purposes.

Contents

Description

A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device cut from a tree trunk, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fiber-reinforced plastics or other high-tech materials. Boomerangs come in many shapes and sizes depending on their geographic or tribal origins and intended function.

An important distinction should be made between returning boomerangs and non-returning boomerangs. Returning boomerangs actually do fly and are examples of the earliest heavier than air man made flight. A returning boomerang has two or more airfoil wings arranged so that the spinning creates unbalanced aerodynamic forces that curve its path so that it travels in an elliptical path and returns to its point of origin when thrown correctly. While a throwing stick can also be shaped overall like a returning boomerang, it is designed to travel as straight as possible so that it can be aimed and thrown with great force to bring down game. Its surfaces therefore are symmetrical and not uneven like the airfoils which give the returning boomerang its characteristic curved flight.

The most recognizable type of boomerang is the returning boomerang; while non-returning boomerangs, throwing sticks (or shaunies) were used as weapons, returning boomerangs have been used primarily for leisure or recreation. Returning boomerangs were also used as decoy birds of prey, thrown above long grass in order to frighten game birds into flight and into waiting nets. Modern returning boomerangs can be of various shapes or sizes as can be seen in a photo in the Modern use section.

Historical evidence also points to the use of non-returning boomerangs by the ancient Egyptians, Native Americans of California and Arizona, and inhabitants of southern India for killing birds and rabbits.[1] Indeed, some boomerangs were not thrown at all, but were used in hand to hand combat by Indigenous Australians.[2]

Boomerangs can be variously used as hunting weapons, percussive musical instruments, battle clubs, fire-starters, decoys for hunting waterfowl, and as recreational play toys. The smallest boomerang may be less than 10 centimetres (4 in) from tip to tip, and the largest over 180 centimetres (6 ft) in length.[3] Tribal boomerangs may be inscribed and/or painted with designs meaningful to their makers. Most boomerangs seen today, are of the tourist or competition sort, and are almost invariably of the returning type.

Etymology

The origin of the term is uncertain, and many researchers have different theories on how the word entered the English vocabulary. One source asserts that the term entered the language in 1827, adapted from an extinct Aboriginal language of New South Wales, Australia, but mentions a variant, wo-mur-rang, which it dates from 1798.[4] The boomerang was first encountered by western people at Farm Cove (Port Jackson), Australia, in December 1804 where its use as a weapon was witnessed during a tribal skirmish:[5]

...the white spectators were justly astonished at the dexterity and incredible force with which a bent, edged waddy resembling slightly a turkish scimytar, was thrown by Bungary, a native distinguished by his remarkable courtesy. The weapon, thrown at 20 or 30 yards [18 or 27 m] distance, twirled round in the air with astonishing velocity, and alighting on the right arm of one of his opponents, actually rebounded to a distance not less than 70 or 80 yards [64 or 73 m], leaving a horrible contusion behind, and exciting universal admiration.
—final paragraph on page; archaic language reinterpreted here

David Collins listed "Wo-mur-rāng" as one of eight aboriginal "Names of clubs" in 1798.[6] A 1790 anonymous manuscript on aboriginal languages of New South Wales reported "Boo-mer-rit" as "the Scimiter".[7]

In 1822 it was described in detail and recorded as a "bou-mar-rang", in the language of the Turuwal people (a sub-group of the Dharug) of the Georges River near Port Jackson. The Turnawal used other words for their hunting sticks but used "boomerang" to refer to a returning throw-stick.[8] They were also mistakenly referred to as a woomerang, in confusion with the spear-thrower woomera.[citation needed]

History

Distribution of boomerangs in Australia
Australian Aboriginal boomerangs

The oldest Australian Aboriginal boomerangs are ten thousand years old, but older hunting sticks have been discovered in Europe, where they seem to have formed part of the stone age arsenal of weapons.[9] One boomerang that was discovered in Jaskinia Obłazowa in the Carpathian Mountains in Poland was made of mammoth's tusk and is believed, based on AMS dating of objects found with it, to be about 30,000 years old.[10][11] King Tutankhamen, the famous Pharaoh of ancient Egypt, who died over 3,300 years ago, owned a collection of boomerangs of both the straight flying (hunting) and returning variety.[9]

No one knows for sure how the returning boomerang was first invented, but some modern boomerang makers speculate that it developed from the flattened throwing stick, still used by the Australian Aborigines and some other tribal people around the world, including the Navajo Indians in America. A hunting boomerang is delicately balanced and much harder to make than a returning one. Probably, the curving flight characteristic of returning boomerangs was first noticed by stone age hunters trying to "tune" their throwing sticks to fly straight.[9] In 1909 the Ngarrindjeri inventor David Unaipon patented an invention for a rotary wing aircraft based on his study of boomerang aerodynamics.

Modern use

Today, boomerangs are mostly used as sporting items. There are different types of throwing contests: accuracy of return; Aussie round; trick catch; maximum time aloft; fast catch; and endurance (see below). The modern sport boomerang (often referred to as a 'boom' or 'rang'), is made of Finnish birch plywood, hardwood, plastic or composite materials and comes in many different shapes and colours. Most sport boomerangs typically weigh less than 100 grams (3.5 oz), with MTA boomerangs (boomerangs used for the maximum time aloft event) often under 25 grams (0.9 oz).

The modern boomerang is often CAD designed with precision airfoils. The number of "wings" is often more than 2 as more lift is provided by 3 or 4 wings than by 2.[12][13]

In 1992 German Astronaut Ulf Merbold performed an experiment aboard Spacelab that established that boomerangs function in zero gravity as they do on Earth. French Astronaut Jean-François Clervoy aboard MIR in repeated this in 1997.[14] In 2008, Japanese astronaut Takao Doi again repeated the experiment.[15][16]

Modern sports boomerangs

Hunting

It is believed that the shape and elliptical flight path of the returning boomerang makes it useful for hunting.[who?] Noise generated by the movement of the boomerang through the air, and, by a skilled thrower, lightly clipping leaves of a tree[citation needed] whose branches house birds, would help scare the birds towards the thrower. This was used to frighten flocks or groups of birds into nets that were usually strung up between trees or thrown by hidden hunters.[17]

Non-returning boomerangs (termed "throwsticks") for hunting larger prey, such as kangaroo, were used for small prey as well. These throwsticks fly in a nearly straight path when thrown horizontally and are heavy enough to take down a kangaroo on impact to the legs or knees. For hunting emu, the throwstick is aimed toward the bird's neck, in an attempt to break it.

Design

Boomerangs for sale at the 2005 Melbourne Show

A returning boomerang is a rotating wing. Though it is not a requirement that the boomerang be in its traditional shape, it is usually flat. A falling boomerang starts spinning, and most then fall in a spiral. When the boomerang is thrown with high spin, the wings produce lift. Larger boomerangs are used in hunting, thus they drop on the ground after striking the target. Smaller ones are used in sport, and are the only boomerangs that return to the thrower. Because of its rapid spinning, a boomerang flies in a curve rather than a straight line. When thrown correctly, a boomerang returns to its starting point.

Returning boomerangs consist of two or more arms, or wings, connected at an angle. Each wing is shaped as an airfoil.

As the wing rotates and the boomerang moves through the air, this creates airflow over the wings and this creates lift on both "wings". However, during one half of each blade's rotation, it sees a higher airspeed, because the rotation tip-speed and the forward speed add, and when it is in the other half of the rotation, the tip speed subtracts from the forward speed. Thus if thrown nearly upright each blade generates more lift at the top than the bottom.[18]

While it might be expected that this would cause the boomerang to tilt around the axis of travel, because the boomerang has significant angular momentum, gyroscopic effect causes the plane of rotation to tilt about an axis that is 90 degrees to the direction of flight, and this is what curves the flight in such a way that it will tend to return.[18]

Thus gyroscopic precession is what makes the boomerang return to the thrower when thrown correctly. This is also what makes the boomerang fly straight up into the air when thrown incorrectly. With the exception of long-distance boomerangs, they should not be thrown sidearm or like a Frisbee, but rather thrown with the long axis of the wings rotating in an almost-vertical plane. When throwing a returning boomerang correctly, it is important to follow the correct instructions to achieve a successful return.

Some boomerangs have turbulators—bumps or pits on the top surface that act to increase the lift as boundary layer transition activators (to keep attached turbulent flow instead of laminar separation).

Fast Catch boomerangs usually have three or more symmetrical wings (in the planform view), whereas a Long Distance boomerang is most often shaped similar to a question mark.[19] Maximum Time Aloft boomerangs mostly have one wing considerably longer than the other. This feature, along with carefully executed bends and twists in the wings, help to set up an 'auto-rotation' effect to maximise the boomerang's hover-time in descending from the highest point in its flight.

-"You Gotta Big Mouth" Humorous art boomerang.

Art boomerang renaissance

Beginning in the latter part of the twentieth century there has been a bloom in the independent creation of unusually designed art boomerangs. These often have little or no resemblance to the traditional historical ones and on first sight some of these objects often do not look like boomerangs at all. The use of modern thin plywoods and synthetic plastics have greatly contributed to their success. As long as there are somewhere in the object several airfoil contoured surfaces, whether wing shaped or not, these boomerangs can be thrown and will return. Designs are amazingly diverse and can range from animal inspired forms, humorous themes, complex calligraphic and symbolic shapes, to the purely abstract. Painted surfaces are similarly richly diverse.

Throwing technique

A right-handed boomerang is thrown with a counter-clockwise spin causing a counter-clockwise flight (as seen from above). Conversely, a left-handed boomerang is constructed as a mirror image with the aerofoils' leading edges on the left side of the wings, as seen from above, causing it to produce lift when circling clockwise. Although appearing symmetrical from a plan view, the leading edges are on opposite edges of the wings (leading and trailing) so as to present the leading edges of the aerofoil to the wind when spinning.

A boomerang school, William Street, Kings Cross, Sydney

Most sport boomerangs are in the range of about 70 to 110 grams (2.5 to 3.9 oz). The range on most is between 20 and 40 metres (22 and 44 yd). Boomerangs are generally thrown in treeless, large open spaces that are twice as large as the range of the boomerang. A right- or left-handed boomerang can be thrown with either hand, but the flight direction will depend upon the boomerang, not the thrower. Throwing a boomerang with the wrong hand requires a throwing motion that many throwers may find awkward.

For right-handed boomerangs, throwers first establish the wind and launch direction by first facing into the wind, slowly turning their head left to right. They then turn between thirty to seventy degrees clockwise to the right, depending on wind speed (turning farther for stronger winds). The correct launch orientation makes the boomerang's flight begin by flying into the wind, then having its flight take it through the "eye of the wind" and finally returning downwind using the wind's speed to help complete its flight back to the thrower.

The thrower stands sideways with feet-apart, left foot forward, so as to point in the direction of flight. Holding the right (or left) wing tip, flat side down, using the thumb on top and one to three fingers below, they tilt the boomerang out at a ten to thirty degree angle from vertical. This angle is called "layover." Different boomerangs have different flight characteristics, and the bigger the layover the higher the boomerang will fly.

Cocking the boomerang back to ensure a good spin and stepping sharply forward with the left foot, the thrower follows through with their right arm and leg as they throw the boomerang overhand in a similar way to throwing a spear or pitching a baseball, aiming the boomerang by pointing with their left arm at or just above the horizon. Launching is performed crisply using a whip-like flick with their index finger, at the end of the throw, to cause quick counter-clockwise spin (seen from above). It is the spin that makes the boomerang return. The strength of throw and spin must be varied according to the speed of the wind — the stronger the wind, the less power is required to provide lift enough to make the return journey. In other words, the stronger the wind, the softer the boomerang is thrown.

The boomerang initially should curve around to the left, climb gently, level out in mid-flight, arc around and descend slowly, and then finish by popping up slightly, hovering, then stalling near the thrower. Ideally, it should hover momentarily, to allow the catcher to clamp their hands shut decisively and firmly on the horizontal boomerang from above and below, sandwiching the centre between the catcher's hands. In other words, it is possible to avoid painful wing strikes to the hand by not sticking fingers directly into the edge of the fast-spinning wing rotor.

Contrary to what beginners think, a boomerang should never be thrown level sidearm like a flying disc, as it will turn abruptly upwards in the direction of the top of its airfoils. It will then climb very high vertically and at its highest point will quickly lose all lift and descend accelerating very fast like a dive bomber so that its landing will be vertical and with great force and probably cause damage, especially to wooden boomerangs which may break into pieces.

Wind speed and direction are very important for a successful throw. A right-handed boomerang is thrown with the wind on one's left cheek. The angle to the wind depends on the boomerang, but starting with a 45 degree angle is recommended. Depending on where the boomerang lands, this angle can be modified so that a closer return is achieved. For example, if the boomerang lands too far on the left, turn to throw more to the right of the wind the next time. If the return goes over one's head, then throw softer. If it falls short, then throw harder. As for the wind speed, a light wind of three to five miles an hour is ideal. If the wind is strong enough to fly a kite, then that's usually too strong for boomerangs.

Throwers can modify various actions to achieve a closer return according to the conditions; the throw angle to the wind, the tilt, the power, the spin, and the inclination can be adjusted to vary the return point so the catch point can be perfected. Facing into the wind, then turning the head slightly to either side to check for the cooling effect, allows one to assess the wind direction, and thus the throwing direction, more accurately. For consistency, return to the same throw point and then use a background target object on the horizon to throw in the same direction relative to the wind each time.

Competitions and records

In international competition, a world cup is held every second year. As of 2010, teams from Germany and the United States dominated international competition. The individual World Champion title was won in 2000, 2002 and 2004 by Swiss thrower Manuel Schütz. In 2006, Fridolin Frost from Germany won the title, with Manuel Schütz finishing third.

Competition disciplines

Modern boomerang tournaments usually involve some or all of the events listed below[20] In all disciplines the boomerang must travel at least 20 metres (66 ft) from the thrower. Throwing takes place individually. The thrower stands at the centre of concentric rings marked on an open field.

Events include:

  • Aussie Round: considered by many to be the ultimate test of boomeranging skills. The boomerang should ideally cross the 50-metre (160 ft) circle and come right back to the centre. Each thrower has five attempts. Points are awarded for distance, accuracy and the catch.
  • Accuracy: points are awarded according to how close the boomerang lands to the centre of the rings. The thrower must not touch the boomerang after it has been thrown. Each thrower has five attempts. In major competitions there are two accuracy disciplines: Accuracy 100 and Accuracy 50.
  • Endurance: points are awarded for the number of catches achieved in 5 minutes.
  • Fast Catch: the time taken to throw and catch the boomerang five times. The winner has the fastest timed catches.
  • Trick Catch/Doubling: points are awarded for trick catches behind the back, between the feet, and so on. In Doubling the thrower has to throw two boomerangs at the same time and catch them in sequence in a special way.
  • Consecutive Catch: points are awarded for the number of catches achieved before the boomerang is dropped. The event is not timed.
  • MTA 100 (Maximal Time Aloft, 100 metres (330 ft)): points are awarded for the length of time spent by the boomerang in the air. The field is normally a circle measuring 100 m. An alternative to this discipline, without the 100 m restriction is called MTA unlimited.
  • Long Distance: the boomerang is thrown from the middle point of a 40-metre (130 ft) baseline. The furthest distance travelled by the boomerang away from the baseline is measured. On returning the boomerang must cross the baseline again but does not have to be caught. A special section is dedicated to LD below.
  • Juggling: as with Consecutive Catch, only with two boomerangs. At any given time one boomerang must be in the air.

World records

As of June 2010
Discipline Result Name Year Tournament
Accuracy 100 99 points Alex Opri (D) 2007 Viareggio (ITA)
Aussie Round 99 points Fridolin Frost (D) 2007 Viareggio (ITA)
Endurance 81 catches Manuel Schütz (CH) 2005 Milano (ITA)
Fast Catch 14.60 s Adam Ruhf (USA) 1996 Emmaus (USA)
Trick Catch/Doubling 390 points Manuel Schütz (CH) 2004 Milano (ITA)
Consecutive Catch 2251 catches Haruki Taketomi (JAP) 2009 Japan
MTA 100 139.10 s Nick Citoli (USA) 2010 Rome (ITA)
MTA unlimited 380.59 s Billy Brazelton (USA) 2010 Rome (ITA)
Long Distance 238 m Manuel Schütz (CH) 1999 Kloten (CH)

Non-discipline record: Smallest Returning Boomerang: Sadir Kattan of Australia in 1997 with 1.9 inches (48 mm) long and 1.8 inches (46 mm) wide. This tiny boomerang flew the required 22 yards (20 m), before returning to the accuracy circles on 22 March 1997 at the Australian National Championships.[21]

Guinness world distance record

A boomerang was used to set a Guinness World Record with a throw of 1,401.5 feet (427.2 meters) by David Schummy on March 15, 2005 at Murrarie Recreation Ground, Australia.[22] This broke the previous record set by Erin Hemmings who threw an Aerobie 1,333 feet (406.3 meters) on July 14, 2003 at Fort Funston, San Francisco.[23]

Long distance boomerangs

Long distance boomerang throwers aim to have the boomerang go the furthest possible distance while returning close to the throwing point. In competition the boomerang must intersect an imaginary surface defined as an infinite vertical extrude of a 40-metre (44 yd) large line centred on the thrower. Outside of competitions, the definition is not so strict, and the thrower is happy whenever he does not have to travel 50 metres (55 yd) after the throw, to recover the boomerang.

General properties

Long-distance boomerangs are optimised to have minimal drag while still having enough lift to fly and return. For this reason, they have a very narrow throwing window, which discourages many beginners from continuing with this discipline. For the same reason, the quality of manufactured long-distance boomerangs is often non-deterministic.

Today's long-distance boomerangs have almost all an S or ? - question mark shape and have a beveled edge on both sides (the bevel on the bottom side is sometimes called an undercut). This is to minimise drag and lower the lift. Lift must be low because the boomerang is thrown with an almost total layover (flat). Long distance boomerangs are most frequently made of composite material, mainly fibre glass epoxy composites.

Flight path

The projection of the flight path of long distance boomerang on the ground resembles a water drop. For older types of long distance boomerangs (all types of so called big hooks), the first and last third of the flight path are very low, while the middle third is a fast climbing followed by a fast descent. Nowadays boomerangs are made in a way that their whole flight path is almost planar with a constant climbing during the first half of the trajectory and then a rather constant descent during the second half.

From theoretical point of view, long-distance boomerangs are interesting also for the following reason: for achieving a different behaviour during different flight phases, the ratio of the rotation frequency to the forward velocity has a U-shaped function, i.e. its derivative crosses 0. Practically, it means that the boomerang being at the furthest point has a very low forward velocity. The kinetic energy of the forward component is then stored in the potential energy.TM This is not true for other types of boomerangs, where the loss of kinetic energy is non-reversible (the MTAs also store kinetic energy in potential energy during the first half of the flight, but then the potential energy is lost directly by the drag).

Related terms

Kylie is one of the Aboriginal words for the hunting stick used in warfare and for hunting animals.[24] Instead of following curved flight paths, kylies fly in straight lines from the throwers. They are typically much larger than boomerangs, and can travel very long distances; due to their size and hook shapes, they can cripple or kill an animal or human opponent. The word is perhaps an English corruption of a word meaning boomerang taken from one of the Western Desert languages, for example, the Warlpiri word karli.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Boomerang". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/73646/boomerang. Retrieved 2009-01-25. 
  2. ^ Harris, Tom. "Battle Boomerangs". Howstuffworks.com. http://www.howstuffworks.com/boomerang.htm/printable. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  3. ^ Ted Bailey. "Worlds Largest Boomerang". www.flight-toys.com. http://www.flight-toys.com/boomerang/boomnews/worldslargestboom.html. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 
  4. ^ Boomerang, Online Etymology Dictionary.
  5. ^ "SYDNEY". NLA Australian Newspapers. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/626558. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  6. ^ Collins, David (1798). "Appendix XII (Language)". An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales. p. 554. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12565. 
  7. ^ Image of handwritten note, in The notebooks of William Dawes on the Aboriginal language of Sydney, The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project.
  8. ^ "What is a Boomerang?". Boomerang Association of Australia. 1961-09-15. http://www.boomerang.org.au/articles/article-what-is-a-boomerang.html. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  9. ^ a b c "Boomerang History". www.rangs.co.uk. http://www.rangs.co.uk/boomhistory.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-17. 
  10. ^ Oblazowa Cave Finds
  11. ^ Palaeolithic Throwing Object - Throwing experiments with the Palaeolithic throwing object from the Oblazowa in the Polish Carpathians
  12. ^ Boomerang Aerodynamics, boomerangs.com.
  13. ^ Saulius Pakalnis, Aerodynamics of Boomerang, April 21, 2006, researchsupporttechnologies.com.
  14. ^ "Boomerangs in Space". Flight-toys.com. 2008-03-18. http://www.flight-toys.com/boomerang/boomnews/spacebooms.html. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  15. ^ "Boomerang works in space, says astronaut". News.com.au. 2008-03-21. http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23411383-952,00.html. Retrieved 2010-03-03. [dead link]
  16. ^ "Does a Boomerang Work in Space?". Universetoday.com. http://www.universetoday.com/2008/03/24/does-a-boomerang-work-in-space/. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  17. ^ Lloyd, John; Mitchinson, John (2006). The Book of General Ignorance. Mackays of Chatham. p. 244. ISBN 978-0-571-23368-7. 
  18. ^ a b http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/brng.html
  19. ^ "'baggressive.com'". Baggressive.com. 2005-04-19. http://www.baggressive.com/copper/thumbnails.php?album=6. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  20. ^ Based on original text from German wiki.de:Bumerang
  21. ^ "Offline". www.boomerang.org.au. 2008-04-12. http://www.boomerang.org.au/gallery/displayimage.php?album=9&pos=10. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
  22. ^ Longest Boomerang Throw
  23. ^ "First Quarter Mile Throw in History at Fort Funston". Business Wire. Business Wire. 2003-07-16. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2003_July_16/ai_105504992/. Retrieved May 28, 2009. 
  24. ^ "What is a boomerang and where does it come from?". http://www.bumerang-sport.de/story/history.htm. 

Further reading

External links


Translations:

Boomerang

Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - boomerang
v. intr. - virke som boomerang, give bagslag, falde tilbage på en selv

Nederlands (Dutch)
boemerang

Français (French)
n. - boomerang
v. intr. - faire boomerang

Deutsch (German)
n. - Bumerang
v. - schiefgehen und dem Urheber Schaden zufügen

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - μπούμερανγκ, αυτεπίστροφο, (μτφ.) επιθετική ενέργεια που αποβαίνει σε βάρος του επιτιθέμενου
v. - κινούμαι σαν μπούμερανγκ, (για επιθετική ενέργεια) αποβαίνω σε βάρος του επιτιθέμενου

Italiano (Italian)
boomerang

Português (Portuguese)
n. - bumerangue (m)
v. - dar resultado contrário (plano)

Русский (Russian)
бумеранг

Español (Spanish)
n. - bumerán
v. intr. - volver al punto de partida

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - bumerang
v. - slå tillbaka, ha motsatt effekt

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
回飞棒, 飞去来器, 仍回原处, 自作自受

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 回飛棒, 飛去來器
v. intr. - 仍回原處, 自作自受

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 부메랑, 음모, 판자
v. intr. - 되돌아오다, 자업자득이 되다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - ブーメラン, やぶへび
v. - やぶへびになる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) قوس, خشبي يرتد الى راميه (فعل) يرتد على صاحبه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מקל קשתי המשמש לפגיעה בחיית-ציד וחוזר לזורקו במקרה של אי-פגיעה, בומרנג, תוכנית או טיעון החוזרים ומופעלים על ממציאם‬
v. intr. - ‮פעל כבומרנג‬


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