A boomerang is a curved wooden throwing weapon of Australian aborigines. The boomerang is round on one side, flat on the other, about one metre long and 50 mm wide and about 20 mm thick. In use, it is grasped at one end and thrown sickle-wise, either upward into the air, or downward so as to strike the ground at some distance from the thrower. In the first case it flies with a rotary motion and after ascending to a great height in the air, it suddenly returns in an elliptical orbit to a spot near its starting point. On throwing it downward to the ground, it rebounds in a straight line, pursuing a ricochet motion until it strikes the object at which it was thrown. The most angular curve described by it is when it is projected upward at an angle of 45 degrees, when its flight is always backward, and the thrower stands with his back to the object he intends to hit. Research Boomerang
Ricochet firing is the firing of guns or howitzers, usually with small charges, at an elevation of only a few degrees, so as to cause the balls or shells to bound or skip (ricochet) along the ground. Research Ricochet Firing
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Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Ricochet
