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Spike the Triangle
Matt Caniglia
Copyright © 2011 Matt Caniglia
All rights reserved
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0518-6
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
INTRODUCTION
The following is a study in the sidearm throw of the Aerobie® Orbiter™. This high-performance boomerang is manufactured in the United States by Aerobie, Inc. Imagine three twelve-inch plastic rulers fused equilaterally to form “the triangle,” a thin, rigid flight toy that harbors a secret. When thrown overhand, as intended by the manufacturer, like the quarterback in American football, it behaves like a traditional boomerang: taking a low, circular flight path, and ultimately returning to its thrower. However, when thrown sidearm, the triangle does something radical!
The sidearm motion is an atypical way of throwing a boomerang. It travels flat for a brief moment then dramatically spikes upward into the sky. Reaching an abnormally high apex, it then blends swiftly into a speedy and equally dramatic death spiral. Capping off its ascension, the flight stalls at one hundred, sometimes one hundred twenty feet in the air. The Aerobie® Orbiter™ is a windstorm, fanning broadly from left to right, entering a death spiral by way of centripetal whorl back to Earth. The fall is a downward corkscrew with coils measuring fifty to sixty feet in diameter.
Unorthodox and swift, the sidearm-thrown boomerang appears erratic upon first glance. Subsequent throws, how- ever, quickly reveal a constant production of the same repetitive flight path. This course of throw and this pattern of flight become so predictable that a human’s natural instinct yearns to catch a seemingly uncatchable boomerang…and so begins the story of Spike the Triangle.
WHERE IT BEGAN
When I was in fourth grade, a fellow student brought an amazing flying ring to school. Extremely flat and perfectly round, it had a rubbery body surrounding a rigid concentric rib. The yellow and red circular ribbon of fun harnessed tremendous power.
When thrown across Sacramento’s expansive athletic field of Phoebe Hearst Elementary School, this ring hovered so incredibly far for such a long time that electric waves of silver glitter transmitted from this perfect throwing object into me; I was shocked. Somebody had made a “turbo” Frisbee®!
Throw and catch is the staple to many team sports. Back and forth is the action, highlighting skills of both delivery and reception. The Frisbee® disc embodies these two acts. Once a craze like the Hula Hoop, the Frisbee®, a flying disc, is now an establishment of world culture; a necessity of every trip to the beach, picnic, or tailgate party. This predictable hovering saucer helped spawn the efficient flying ring.
Internet research helped me remember the amazing ring from fourth grade as being the “Skyro®,” inventor Alan Adler’s 1970’s prototype to his world famous Aerobie® Pro flying ring. Just like the Frisbee®, the Aerobie® Pro and its predecessor, the Skyro®, have thrilled millions of enthusiasts in simple throw and catch for almost forty years. The flying rings, both Skyro and Aerobie, have been said to produce “amazing throws,” “holding the world’s record for farthest thrown objects,” while being centerpieces of “thrilling hours of throw and catch.” With the consistent ability to travel the length of a football field or two, the Aerobie® Pro comprises the horsepower of an internal combustion engine. The sleek ring is an evolution of the Frisbee®, capitalizing on its flight characteristics. When these engineered refinements perfected a maximum efficient flight, extreme improvements of distance and hang time resulted.
Adler refined the Frisbee® aerodynamically; making his ring-version fly farther with more lift and faster with less drag, and guess what…he did the same thing with the boomerang. My reaction: shock waves, once again.
EXTRAORDINARY BOOMERANG
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The Aerobie® Orbiter™ is a slick, high-performance boomerang. It has the ability to travel farther and faster than an ordinary “regular” boomerang: the L-shaped wooden stick that we are so used to seeing.
In the drawing, the increased distance traveled by the Aerobie® Orbiter™ is depicted with a traditional overhand throw. The Orbiter™ is much thinner and flatter than an ordinary boomerang. This compressed profile contributes to a reduction of drag while in flight. Just as the ring flies farther than the disc, the Aerobie boomerang flies farther than a cumbersome wooden boomerang.
Generally, the recommendation is to throw all returning boomerangs overhand. Imprinted on the face of each triangle are instructions that read: “Throw overhand with 30 degree right tilt.” That’s about the position of one o’clock on the face of any hanging clock. Some boomerangs come packaged with blatant pleas to never throw sidearm. However, the ninety-degree tilt of the throw, made by the release point from the thrower’s hand at three o’ clock instead of one o’clock spikes the triangle straight up into the air. Because of its aerodynamic fitness, extreme altitude is gained as the flashy boomerang slips into the sky. The height is great enough that the triangle has appropriate time and space to flip all the way over affording hang time sufficient enough for the development of a crashing spin. The increased lateral distance associated with the regular overhand throw of the high performance boomerang now translates into extreme height-gain when thrown sidearm.
Instructions for play imprinted on the face of each triangle read:
“Throw overhand with spin and 30 degree right lean.”
“Aim for ground 100FT. ahead.”
“Throw only in 150FT. clear, well-lighted area.”
“Never throw in wind or crowd.”
“Never throw a torn or damaged boomerang.”
The Aerobie® Orbiter™, as opposed to regular boomerangs, is efficient and that allows the necessary power for extreme height. With a hard sidearm throw, it naturally travels up. Then, the crash to Earth is not a swift chop but a unique corkscrew dance. That’s just its nature!
When the triangle is thrown sidearm, it travels flat for a short distance, screaming along a horizontal plane before it spikes up into the sky. There appears a tendency for the triangle to curl back toward the thrower while combating an opposing force of forward momentum (the throw). The result is a forged