Boomerang regulations

[rgmwa]

rgmwa, it's got slotted wingtips. Nev

Well spotted Nev. I've often wondered why it ended up lying under a bush where dad found it. I've imagined it being dropped in a skirmish with the local miners in 1865 or maybe lost during an inter-tribal conflict, but perhaps the simplest explanation is that it was an experimental boomerang that was thrown away because it didn't work.

 

 

[nomadpete]

Yeah, mah boomerang don't come back!

 

 

[turboplanner]

A herding boomerang? The slots probably make a noise

 

 

[nomadpete]

I believe that most boomerangs were not designed to come back. They were designed to stun a prey that was out of spear range, and straight line accuracy was more important than having it return. Returnable boomerangs were used for training purposes. . Most likely your example was a hunting tool that was made redundant by the .22 .,.......

 

Or maybe it was lost when it missed it's prey.

 

 

[w3stie]

I was buying a boomerang a the Australian Geographic shop at Indooroopilly, and I asked the clerk did they have a no returns policy on it. He went away and fetched the manager, and she started politely on the spiel about their returns policy. I explained it was a dad joke, and they looked quite cross. Ah well.

 

 

[Oscar]

Has a study yet been done on Boomerang ( of the non-powered variety, not the CAC Boomerang nor the Whitney Boomerang) engine failure rate?

 

It is likely to show that there has been an above-average rate of non-powered landings. And as a result, we should - on-experience - be bracing ourselves for a CASA requirement for anyone who flies a Boomerang to sign before every flight a declaration that they are:

 

a) of legal minimum age for consent to appreciate the risks involved;

 

b) have successfully undertaken a Boomerang flight in the past 28 days;

 

c) have a recognised Boomerang Training Facility endorsement on the specific type of Boomerang involved;

 

d) will NOT sue CASA in the event they suffer an injury resulting from the Boomerang flight, and

 

e) will NOT sue CASA in the event they suffer an injury resulting from the Boomerang flight, and

 

f) will NOT sue CASA in the event they suffer an injury resulting from the Boomerang flight, and

 

g) will NOT sue CASA in the event they suffer an injury resulting from the Boomerang flight.

 

All to be notarised by the Pope, the Queen of Australia, and Donald Trump....

 

 

[old man emu]

It seems that the returning boomerang is used in a number of ways. For hunting purposes it is used to startle resting birds so that they flew into nets across the flight path. It can also be used to knock birds out of an airborne flock. On days off, it isa recreational toy. Finally, a pair of returning boomerangs make a percussion musical instrument.

 

There is another hooked-shaped throwing stick which does not return, but has a straight trajectory and greater range than a spear. Such a throwing stick is called a 'kylie'.

 

There is another reference to Kiley: ON KILEY'S RUN by A.B. "Banjo" Paterson (1864 - 1941) but that name is of Irish origin from the area of the Munster counties of Waterford, Limerick and Cork.

 

 

[facthunter]

Used to know how to throw a boomerang (sort of). At one time we had a few of them. They travel pretty quick and you can get them to return and stall slowly near where you are. Saves walking. .Nev

 

 

[Marty_d]

I remember having one when I was 14. After a lot of practice I got to the point where at least half the time it'd return so close I could grab it. Probably couldn't do it now.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

I used to like our country shows where you would often have a guy demonstrate a boomerang, and of course whip cracking. We got the occasional plastic one for Xmas as kids.

 

No one has mentioned that famous Australian colloquialism yet, of when you borrow something; "... and remember, it's a bloody boomerang!".

 

 

[old man emu]

This diagram is interesting as it shows the distribution of "throwing stick" types. I wonder if the distribution indicates several waves of migraton.

 

Boomerang and kylie

 

Boomerang not made

 

Yellow bit: Kylie only

 

 

 

[Mike Borgelt]

I think there was no understanding of aerodynamics involved in the invention of the boomerang. Likely someone picked up a piece of wood that happened to be the right shape and threw it and it flew.

 

Two straight crossed pieces of wood joined together works just as well as the "boomerang" shape. Seems that didn't get "invented" back then

 

Oh, yeah, the boomerang that comes back is useless. Better one that hits the kangaroo and stuns or kills it with its angular momentum. The roo will be gone anyway if you miss so you can walk over and retrieve the device.

 

 

[Litespeed]

If they had no understanding of aero then how come it is a airfoil and does its intended role perfectly? Two sticks would not.

 

Credit due to the indigenous inventers

 

 

[bexrbetter]

If they had no understanding of aero then how come it is a airfoil

Because that's the shape that worked.

 

When I was a kid I knew the best shape and sized stone for skipping across water without any science foundation, I just knew from throwing lots of them.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Many technological advances are accidents. The microwave oven wouldn't have existed if Percy Spencer hadn't been farting around with a radar magnetron and melted a chocolate bar in his pants.

 

Doesn't take away from the fact that, accident or not, they realised that something shaped like a boomerang had desirable flight characteristics.

 

 

[red750]

What do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back?

 

A stick.

 

 

[onetrack]

I've got this mind's eye vision of a favourite Australian cartoonist, drawing two Aboriginals, with one throwing a returning boomerang, and that bloke saying to his mate, "Hey, guess what, Fred! I've just discovered gyroscopic precession!! ... "

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Many ancient cultures had boomerangs. There are glass cases full of them in the Cairo museum and in the First Nation museum in Phoenix Arizona.

 

 

[Mike Borgelt]

I know the crossed sticks work because I built one when I was about 14 after reading an article about boomerangs. Airfoil??? Don't need no airfoil. You might want to round the edges of the flat pieces of wood and add some weight to the tips (I used balsa for the wood). Flat plate airfoils work quite well for this purpose.

 

 

[old man emu]

Many technological advances are accidents. The microwave oven wouldn't have existed if Percy Spencer hadn't been farting around with a radar magnetron and melted a chocolate bar in his pants.

Was it the magnetron or the chilli dog he had for lunch that created the fart that melted the chocolate bar?

 

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly ......

 

 

[Frankus1aust]

So what about a Frisbee? Or even better.... An old style rubbish bin lid?

 

 

[facthunter]

Boomerangs fly quite well.. I don't believe there is more aerodynamics in them than a 747 though. Nev

 

 

[old man emu]

Why a Boomerang Flies - Australian Museum

[Erik Snyman]

Many ancient cultures had boomerangs. There are glass cases full of them in the Cairo museum and in the First Nation museum in Phoenix Arizona.

Australian exports.

Erik in Oz.

 

 

[bexrbetter]

You guys made me remember a boomerang I threw 15 years ago that didn't come back, now I'm living every moment in constant fear .....