This web page is a listing of web links with scientific information about why boomerangs work. Some of the links provide lessons on aerodynamics and flight science to help you understand the technical details.
Please check out the flight-toys software links web page. On this web page, you can find links to downloads of boomerang flight simulators and a lot more!
Boomerangs in Space
Visit the Hyperphysics Boomerang Science web page for a complete explanation about how a boomerang works. This site includes an explanation about how gyroscopic precesssion works.
Jani Macari Pallis of Cislunar Aerospace, Inc. has posted several web pages that discuss Aerodynamics in Sports Equipment, Recreation and Machines . There are also explanations for advanced, intermediate and beginner levels of education and a teachers lesson plan.
NASA has a Learning Technologies K-12 Home Page with links to several pages about boomerangs such as the Four Wing Boomerang and Finger Boomerang pages. You can also download a great Macintosh or Windows application that shows airflow around an airfoil at various angles of attack!
The USBA has posted a small web page on Boomerang Science
Jim Mayfield's " Why a Boomerang Returns " is hosted by Colorado Boomerangs
C Johnson, a Physicist from the Univeristy of Chicago has posted a nice article explaining Aerodynamic Lift, Bernoulli Effect & Reaction Lift.
Eric Brasseur has posted a really nice article with scientific comments about Making His First Boomerang.
Ulf Valentin has a wonderful U. V. Lightrangs web page with links to a photo gallery, games and software. Check out the software link to see the results of his scientific modeling of the boomerang on the computer.
Hugh Hunt, a displaced Aussie lecturer at Cambridge University has written a rather nice explanation for why a boomerang returns. This one is really worth visiting. It includes a discussion on how gyroscopic precession affects boom flight.
Georg Hennig has posted a web page with boomerang flight simulators called wxBumms and Boomsim. These computer programs try to show the results of the equations of motion developed by Felix Hess in 'Boomerangs, Aerodynamics and Motion' (1975). You can choose different boomerangs that behave differently. The behaviour is determined by the moment of inertia, radius, mass, forces and torques of the boomerang. You can choose values of the environment (wind speed and angle of attack) and values concerning the flight, e.g. speed, spin, aim, tilt. You can also download Georg's Boomerang Thesis in pdf format (>4 MB and in German).
Saulius Pakalnis, Ph.D, from Vilnius has published an Aerodynamics of Boomerangs web site with seven chapters covering all the basics of why boomerangs fly. Learn about the Coanda effect and why this is a better model than Bernoulli's principle for explaining Aerodynamic lift. Learn about gyroscopic precession and how this scientific principle makes a boomerang turn. Basic instructions for making a boomerang are included. Terrific art depicting boomerang shapes only found in Lithuania.