MEN WHO THROW “GLIDERS.”

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4494, 20 November 1922, Page 2

MEN WHO THROW “GLIDERS.”

By Charles Gregory.

Some forty years ago •my duties as a Government engineei' took me to theyiiorth-east corner Of New South Wales, on the Clarence River, where there could still be seen, the remnants of a native tribe w:hp made their own weapons and. used them even in tribal disputes.?

I had great opportunities' of studying the flight of that truly marvellous weapon, the boomerang, which may be briefly described as a, bent piece of wood curved to an angfe of 90deg. to 120 deg. Its length varies from, two to three feet, and its weight is\ often two pounds, as it is composed of a hard, compact wood, ..to which fire has been applied to extract Tall moisture. One side is flat and the other convex, and along the convex side-runs a sharp edge.

The longest flight—out and return —that I measured was' 480 yards’, and it' is impossible to believe that' this long aerial journey was wholly due to the impulse of the thrdwen Now that I have read much about “gliders,” it appears clear to me that the boomerang develops all the gliding propensities found in the. gliding 'planes, and more. The best thrower I ever saw would plant ibis feet firmly on the ground and, facing the Wind,, select a tall tree some two hundred yards distant. Then, holding his boomerang in his right hand vertically, he threw it with all his might so that for a hundred yards it travelled some six 'feet above the ground. At that distance it would rise as though' on waves pf air until it attained a height of; 601 to 80 feet, circle the high branches of the tree, and gradually descending in its flight,, return to the thrower and fall at his feet.

J believe I see now what greatly puzzled me then—namely; how this weapon by mere propulsion performed so great a journey, as it undoubtedly used the wind against it as a means of climbing, just as the gliding ’plane does. In fact the native perfornied the duty obtained by the glide down hill to obtain impetus, plus the pilot’s skill in changing the centre of gravity so as' to use the air waves to best advantageIs it not, therfore, reasonable io believe chat in the secret of the flight of the boomerang lies one pf the lessons to be learned by those who are perfecting the aerial glider, ?