The Paper Boomerang Book

Book excerpt: When it comes to lightweight avionics, there's no beating a paper boomerang. Let all the others chase after their dull folded airplanes--you can now build a flying device that comes right back to you, every time! And unlike expensive, heavy wooden boomerangs, you won't endanger windows and skulls with paper boomerangs. The Paper Boomerang Book is the first-of-its-kind guide to this fascinating toy. Expert Mark Latno not only tells you how to build, perfect, and troubleshoot your paper boomerang, but about the 20,000-year history of the device, including Egyptian throwing sticks found in pharaoh's tombs, and the physics behind their circuitous flights. And once you've mastered the basic throw, return, and catch, it's on to more impressive tricks--the Behind-the-Back Toss, the Boomerang Juggle, the Under-the-Leg Catch, and the dreaded Double-Handed, Backward, Double-Boomerang Throw. For those who don't have the luxury of the wide-open outback on a clear Australian day, author Latno includes plans for Little Dragons, miniature versions of the paper boomerang that can be used indoors in almost any sized room, rain or shine.