I was fascinated to read recently about the boomerang. A boomerang is like two spinning airplane wings joined in the middle. It weighs about 12 ounces, it is somewhere between 12 and 30 inches long, and it is an incredible aerodynamic marvel to behold.

When an expert throws a boomerang, it is released practically vertical to the ground. But because it is spinning so rapidly (typically about 10 revolutions per second) with the top blade moving through the air faster than the lower blade, there is more lift at the top, which therefore causes the boomerang to begin to turn over like a gyroscope.

Eventually it becomes almost horizontal which changes the boomerang's plane of rotation, and causes it to travel around an arc right back to the thrower.

If you throw the boomerang downward or para…