Boomerangs by Moonlight

--by phnxhawk--

Overview

Ordinarily, the onset of dusk would force me from the beach or field after a long day of throwing boomerangs. Boomerangs start to disappear against the darkening sky, as if cloaked by some advanced stealth technology. So, it would seem quite foolish to continue throwing, not knowing whether the boomerang is about to land a dozen feet to your right or about to ruin thousands of dollars of orthodontic work.

(As a side note, I have been known to throw regular boomerangs in the dead of night. I admit that I was pretty damn lucky not to have hit myself.)

Of course, the overwhelming need to continue throwing 'rangs into the evening has driven some throwers to try different ways of filling that void in their boomerang life. Larry, whom I have mentioned previously, has been toying with embedding LEDs in the wings of some of his boomerangs. He had mentioned to me in previous conversations that it has worked pretty well for him. I have also had good experiences with the visibility of the LEDs embedded in the Scimitar by Eric Darnell. So, I had high hopes that Larry's night 'rangs would make for an awesome show when I joined him to throw them in May.

The Boomerangs

He had a few boomerangs set up for throwing that night, including two Night Pro Fly 'rangs (Eric Darnell) and two plastic Paragons (Adam Carroll). He also had a Night Tri Fly (Eric Darnell) that he tried out for a few throws.

From 2011-05-29_Night Throwing

From 2011-05-29_Night Throwing

From 2011-05-29_Night Throwing

As you can see, the LEDs and accompanying battery, switch and wiring have been embedded into the underside of each wing, generally near midspan. They stick up above the clean surface of the wings by perhaps one or two millimeters, and they have also been taped over for some extra protection during handling. The switch for each LED is a simple push-button under a dimple in the middle of the cover plate. If I recall correctly, pushing the button toggles it between steady light, flashing light and off (or something to that effect). All in all, it is a very slick installation. The LEDs are quite visible and bright, even at a distance, making the boomerang easy to spot, both in the air and on the ground.

The installation of the LEDs accounts for the majority of the modifications Larry made to the boomerangs. For the Darnell boomerangs, Larry also taped over the holes at the end of the wings, aiming to reduce the drag since the LED modifications already add a significant amount of weight.

The Flight

I took some video clips of Larry's throwing the Paragon and Night Pro Fly. It amounts to colored lights whirling about in the shadows...but it was night, after all.



In flight, the LEDs produce a neat effect, especially when set to the flashing mode. Check out the result in the video above. Actually, it was most fun when we had two night boomerangs in the air, seeming to chase each other up and down the flight path. The LEDs enabled me to readily track the boomerangs, and I seldom lost track of them. (When I did, it was due to the fact that I had shifted focus away from the boomerang I was throwing and had trouble reacquiring it...but that happens to me even during the day.)

The extra weight from the LEDs and batteries, although somewhat trivial when held in the hand by themselves, is significant relative to the existing weight and inertia of the boomerang. As you might expect, being "weighted," Larry's night boomerangs require a harder throw (or a windy night) for consistent returns. The flight path tends to be more teardrop in shape, but I happened to be lucky enough to visit him on a breezy evening. So, the path was wider and rounder than might have otherwise been the case.

I would guess that the wind was blowing at a fairly steady 3-5 mph. I was able to throw his Night Fly 'rangs with about 10-20 degrees of layover and somewhat low (just below eye level) to coax the night fly into some consistent returns. They also seem to go out pretty far, but I did not take the time to evaluate the range. I would expect that they go out a few yards further than the unmodified versions.

On the return, one of his Night Fly boomerangs tended not to stop. It came in fast and needed a healthy dose of luck combined with some good hand-eye coordination to put one's hands out for a catch. The other Night Fly tended to slow down and end with a nice hover. In fact, it deceived me into thinking I could handily catch it, much to my chagrin. With only the LEDs clearly visible, I tended to fumble my catches, not having any visual cues as to the exact location and orientation of the rest of the boomerang. In one case, I put my hands out where I expected I could catch the boomerang, but wound up with one wing spinning around my hands and into my face, just over my left eye. Fortunately, the damage seemed to be minimal, and I was able to get back to throwing very quickly. (I also had no black eye the next morning.)

Overall, it was a great night of throwing boomerangs. The LEDs make for a dazzling light show. The calmer winds, combined with the "weighted" night boomerangs, do make for challenging throwing conditions, but not to the point at which they were unmanageable. And aside from the part in which I was freaking out about having a boomerang hit me in the face, I had a lot of fun. I would definitely go back and give those boomerangs another go. Hopefully, I can bring Manny and Charles along next time to create more chaos with four pairs of whirling lights in the air.

Additional Links

• Photos from the night throwing session with Larry
  
• Night Pro Fly - Night Pro Fly at theboomerangman.com
• Night Tri Fly - Night Tri Fly at theboomerangman.com
• Paragon - Paragon at realboomerangs.com's boomerang catalog

"Putting my spin on boomerangs..."