• Does It Really Come Back?
    Awake!—1987 | January 22

    • Its Use in the Hunt

      Come with us and witness the use of the boomerang as a hunting weapon. Notice that the aboriginal hunters have carefully strung nets between suitable trees. The birds they are pursuing have settled in a position directly facing the nets, and the aim is to force the birds to fly low and get entangled in the nets. If they rise above the trees, all will be lost.

      Look! Several hunters spring to their feet. With careful aim they hurl boomerangs toward the prey. The rotating missiles climb rapidly into the air, skim over the trees, and circle just above the birds. Those whirring blades must sound like hawks. The birds keep low. Notice how the hunters add to the illusion by making hawklike cries. The panic-stricken birds crash into the waiting net. The hunt is a great success.

      Meanwhile, each of the spinning boomerangs has completed a full circle. As if by command, each one has returned, either to be caught by its thrower or to fall at his feet.

      For a boomerang to return to the thrower, however, it must be relatively small and light. So most are about 30 inches (75 cm) long. This makes them too light to inflict serious damage on larger animals such as kangaroos and wallabies. Such a boomerang might bring down a bird in flight or wound a small animal if the thrower’s aim is exceptional. But apart from the kind of hunting just described, the returning boomerang was really used for little more than throwing-practice or recreation.

      A Nonreturning “Boomerang”

      The instrument used mainly as a weapon in hunting and warfare was the kylie, or killer stick. It was made in the same shape as a boomerang but was much larger​—up to 4 feet (1.2 m) in length and weighing about 1 1/2 pounds (0.7 kg). However, the kylie would not return when thrown. It was a far more deadly weapon than its smaller counterpart, and its spinning action enabled it to travel much farther. The kylie could be aimed with greater accuracy than a spear, and because of the swath of its 4-foot spin, the kylie’s killing power was spread over a much larger area than just a point, as is the case with a spear. Some accurate throws of up to 660 feet (200 m) have been recorded, and it would have been easy to get within that distance of an unsuspecting kangaroo or wallaby.

      Aerodynamic Design

      The throwing stick, the boomerang, and the kylie all follow aerodynamic principles of design, enabling them to stay aloft for a longer time than any other thrown object. Their “wings” are comparable in shape to those of an airplane or a soaring bird. In flight, the rounded edge of the boomerang pushes through and “splits” the air, causing it to pass above and below the “wing.” The air above the “wing” races across its surface and causes a lifting action. A thrower can add to this lifting action by a flick of the wrist as the boomerang leaves his hand.

      An outstanding feature of the boomerang is called the skew, one end being twisted upward and the other downward. It is amazing that the aborigines learned the need for this without any aerodynamic training. One method used was to heat the boomerang in hot ashes until it was pliant. Another was to soak it in water until the wood was soft enough to be twisted to the desired shape.

      Throwing for a Good Return

      Those adept at getting the boomerang to return claim that this is not difficult and requires only patience and practice. The “elbow” of the boomerang should be away from the thrower, and it should be held in a vertical, not horizontal, position. (See the illustration.) In their book All About Boomerangs, Lorin and Mary Hawes claim that if the boomerang is thrown correctly, it does not matter which end is held in the thrower’s hand. The boomerang will always return if it is thrown with plenty of spin. They state:

      “The action of throwing a boomerang is not so much a matter of opening the hand and turning loose the boomerang as it is giving a snappy throw with the hand closed​—so that, in leaving, the boomerang has to pull itself free and pivot round the hooked index finger, thus gaining a lot of spin as it does so. . . . The throwing motion of the arm is not unlike the action of cracking a whip. The hand starts its throw at a point behind the shoulder and ends with a snap, straight in front, where it usually stops about an arm’s length from the shoulder. Most of the throwing force is transmitted by bending the elbow. There should be no conscious pulling back of the hand before the end of the throw, but rather a smooth follow-through action.”