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at davon cherfo tte as | mers ¢
anon orf sevhie! [vas | so sl
apparent mented yfacldel| roa | etme or
Biri Agatti ty [naive feope | eran
Bat sso fadependeiy in fant ote | on den
pitt foution foi Hoke | Seema
Fal to te ground sou ar duty uta
cean travel as much as 200
und trip) and can be aimed
jy by an separ thrower that
enemy chn be hit. The boo:
bably orjginated as a weap-
1d for aceifrate straight fight
deople find the returning boo-
hich was ainly just a play-
jing Ironeaiy the teat ‘ying
sok cide ca
eran probably ihe, compl
ced aerodyhamically thah the returging
boomerang. As ancient as both
are, an amatcur investigator can sti
‘great deal to advance the unders
ing of their fight
goods stores, most, commercial retrn-
ing boomerangs are mass-produced hind
Aly poorly. Indeed, many of them do}rot
even return. The plastic boomerpng
made by Wham-O is one of the
types available in toy stores. Many gth-
cer types, all of them excellent. are avpil-
able from Ruhe-Rangs, Box 7324,
jamin Franklin Station,
D.C. 20044, thanks to Benjamin Ri
‘a boomerang enthusiast formerly
the Annual Smithsonian Open
ang Tournament. The
‘900 the mall in Washington,
I you would like to experiment
boomerangs, you need to be able to con:
struct your own. Only then can jou
make the variations necessary 10 fle-
termine what factors influence a
rmerang's fight. The best material from
which to cut the basic stock of a
merang is Baltic birch in a marine] or
aircraft plywood between 1/4 and 4/8
inch thick, with five or more Is
tions. This type of plywood is resistpnt
towear and water; itis also dense. which
makes for a boomerang that isheavy for
its size
‘Cut a cardboard pattern for a
‘merang of whatever shape you want.
‘example isthe returning boomerang de-
‘Signed by Herb Smith and shown in
itlustration at the left. (if you are
handed, you will have to make
hhanded boomerang, which is the mirjor
image of the one drawn.) Place the pht-
tern on the plywood and mark off
outline of the boomerang ia pencil.
‘With a coping saw or'a handsaw gut
‘out the boomerang blank, The edges
‘and the top must now be shaped in
‘general form shown in the illustrat
(itl is dbne to the bottom other
patting a slope on what will be the
ing edge.) The leading Edge must
blunt, whereas the trailing edge must
sharper. with the top surface slopt