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A boomerang is a simple wooden implement used for various purposes. It is primarily associated with Australian Aborigines, but other forms are found amongst peoples of North East Africa, Arizona and southern California Native Americans and in India. The oldest boomerang found so far was discovered in a cave in the Carpathian Mountains in Poland and is believed to be about 20,000 years old.[1] Boomerangs come in many shapes and sizes depending on their geographic/tribal origins and intended function. The most recognizable type is the returning boomerang, a kind of throwing stick that, when thrown correctly, travels in a curved path and returns to its point of origin. Other types of boomerang are of the non-returning sort, and indeed, some are not thrown at all but are used in hand-to-hand combat by Aboriginal people.[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 cm from tip-to-tip, and the largest over 2 meters in length. Tribal boomerangs may be incised and/or painted with designs meaningful to its maker. Most boomerangs seen today are of the tourist or competition sort, and are almost invariably of the returning type.
History
Boomerang-like devices, including hunting sticks, have been used all over the world for hunting, religious and recreational activities. Their origin is still not fully clear. Research has shown that ancient tribes in Europe used special throwing axes. Also, in ancient Egypt a special type of stick was exclusively used by the pharaohs for hunting birds. However, the world famous "country of the boomerang" is Australia, where the Australian Aborigines have used both boomerangs and hunting sticks for many thousands of years. The name of the boomerang comes from the Indigenous Australian Turuwal tribe of Aborigines who lived south of Sydney, Australia[3]. They were also mistakenly referred to as a woomerang, in confusion with the woomera throwing-sticks. 
Today, boomerangs are most 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 colors. Most sport boomerangs typically weigh less than 100 grams, with MTA boomerangs (boomerangs used for the maximum time aloft event) often under 25 grams. HuntingIt is believed that the shape and elliptical flight path of the returning boomerang makes it useful for hunting. Noise generated by the movement of the boomerang through the air, and, by a skilled thrower, lightly clipping leaves of a tree 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. Boomerangs for hunting larger prey, such as kangaroo, were used for small prey as well . These boomerangs are modified as such to fly in a 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 boomerang is thrown toward the neck, slitting the throat. In Australia, it is illegal to use guns on emu.boomerangs can be as large as an average person=December 2007}} Design
A returning boomerang is an airfoil. 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, air travels faster over one surface of an airfoil than the other, as the air is accelerated due to the curvature, thus creating lift, along what is roughly a plane which intersects the airfoil at a near right angle along the long axis of the wing. These wings are set so that the lift created by each wing opposes the lift of the other, but at an angle such that the flight pattern is constantly shifted as the forces of lift, drag, speed, rotational inertia etc. 'attempt' to reach equilibrium, see Boomerang engineer.[clarify] This is what makes the boomerang 'return gracefully to the thrower, fluttering to a stop in his hand'... when thrown correctly. This is also what makes the boomerang 'rocket straight up into the air before plunging to its shattered doom'... when thrown incorrectly. With the exception of long-distance boomerangs, they should not be thrown sidearm or like a Frisbee, but rather throw with the long axis of the wings rotating in an almost-vertical plane. Some boomerangs have 'turbulators' - bumps or pits on the top surface that act to make the flight more reliable.[4] 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. [5] 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 maximize the boomerang's hover-time in descending from its highest point in the flight. Basic throwing instructions
Competitions and recordsIn international competition, a world cup is held every second year, with teams from Germany and the United States dominating 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 disciplinesModern boomerang tournaments usually involve some or all of the events listed below [6] In all disciplines the boomerang must travel at least 20 metres from the thrower. Throwing takes place individually. The thrower stands at the centre of concentric rings marked on an open field.
There are many other boomerang disciplines, many played just for fun, but most of these are not considered official competition events. World records(June 2007)
Non-discipline record: Smallest Boomerang: Sadir Kattan of Australia in 1997 with 48 mm [1.8 in] long and 45 mm [1.77 in] wide. This tiny boomerang flew the required 20 metres, returning to the accuracy circles on 22 March 1997 at the Australian National Championships. [2] Related termsA Kylie is one of the Aboriginal words for the hunting stick used in warfare and for hunting animals. Instead of following a curved flight path, it flies in a straight line from the thrower. They are typically much larger than boomerangs. It can travel very long distances, and due to its size and hook shape 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. Roomarang
A Roomarang is a variant on a Boomerang that is made of foam so that it can be used indoors without risking injury or damage to the building, hence the name roomarang. A roomarang is shaped like a helicopter blade so that when it turns clockwise it generates lift. In order to throw the roomarang the user gives it clockwise rotation at the same time as throwing it outwards, and it usually travels in a full circle around the room and then returns to the thrower. The roomarang is mainly for relieving stress, such as when on the job, and can be used safely in an office, so long as it isn't intentionally thrown at another object. References
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from Wikipedia Encyclopedia article "Boomerang" |
