Lunchtime field tests
Today I headed out at lunch to test a few boomerangs. I made 8 of one style and had given one to Art. He reported that it was always coming up short to the left. I decided to test them all, and a few others. The temperature was in the mid 80's and I was in my "business casual" attire which meant I was going to be hot, very fast. Anyway there was a slight 5mph breeze blowing which is pretty nice for throwing. My first throw was with an acrylic boomerang, the Darth Maul, designed by David Fantone. I made it months ago and forgot the range so tested it again. The next two booms were birthday gifts from David. The strip laminated lap joint Assault was really nice. I overpowered it a bit and had to chase it down behind me. His other boomerang was a rather large more traditional style. I also overpowered that one and adjusted to a lighter throw my second time.
Now to the serious testing, the reason I was on the field. I have 7 more boomerangs, 2 unweighted, 4 weighted with pennies, 1 with nickels. Because of Art's report, I added some undercut to the lead arm of one each, weighted and unweighted. The first toss was with the unweighted with undercut. It flew great but ended up a little to the left. I was pretty sure it was the power of the throw so I then tried the one without the undercut. Well I was really surprised that it came all the way around and crossed right in front of me. I reached out with my right hand and snagged it one handed without moving an inch! That one is a keeper! Both versions got 30-35 meters with the undercut one flying higher.
I switched to the weighted versions and found the undercut one was better than the ones without undercuts. I also discovered that the one weighted with nickels did not come close. It had great distance, probably 50 meters, but needs a real strong wind to get a full return. The others get 40-45 meters and with that added undercut, should be perfect. The one I did test with undercuts was a real performed and earned me another bulls-eye catch.
Art, if you're reading this, add some undercut to the lead arm of that boomerang and your problems should be solved.
BoomerangDave
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