That Boomerang really did take off!
When David Unaipon was quoted in the Daily Herald back in 1914 as, envisioning a design for an aeroplane that would take off vertically, he had in mind the “application of the boomerang principle” Unaipon, Daily Herald 1914.
What exactly did David Unaipon mean by this?
Surprisingly, in a search to understand more about boomerangs, it became evident that most of the throwing sticks classified as boomerangs, (which is a generic word), were non- returning, literally just throwing sticks!
It also became apparent that these throwing sticks, (with names as different as the many, First Nation’s people groups making and using them) were intended for varying purposes. Primarily, hunting and fighting weapons, many were designed to slice through either the air, or the water to illicit a direct blow to game or to an enemy, while others were intended for hand to hand combat. We also find reference to the throwing of the boomerang during battle as a display of strength and dexterity or as a predator like decoy, to flush prey into traps or nets.
Modifications to boomerangs are also described, extending their use.
Modified boomerangs were used as digging sticks and as flint sticks with their sharp edge used to create spark, or to clean scales from fish or ashes from a fire and as knives to chop food. They were also used as both ceremonial and musical instruments, as percussion sticks and like a bow when rubbed gently.
Ngarrindjeri People’s of the Coorong Lakes and lower Murray region describe the boomerang represented on their flag as, a sacred stick.
Thrown to circle around and gather together the leaders of the Laklinyeris, to discuss and implement their traditional laws, their boomerangs have symbolic and spiritual meaning that transcends time, and all with decorations as unique as the individuals who carved and decorated them.
Photograph by Thomas Dick (1877-1927) source: State Library of New South Wales
While ‘boomerangs’ might have many uses, David Unaipon’s reference to the boomerang was, surely, more specifically related to the aerodynamic features of those throwing sticks used to hunt
Mr Unaipon made reference to the unique flying ability of many boomerangs saying,
“The boomerang is shaped to rise in the air according to the velocity with which it is propelled, and so can an aeroplane” adding, “When I solved the flight of the boomerang…it seemed to me that I could do away with the preliminary run of the aeroplane, and make the machine rise direct from the ground,” (Unaipon, Daily Herald 1914).
David Unaipon made drawings from his studies that showed a vertical lift flying machine about twenty years before the first helicopter was successfully flown.
R-4B Sikorsky Helicopter Landing, Loomis Dean
Although David Unaipon was unable to secure the finances to patent his designs, which incorporated two spinning blades, shaped like two boomerangs, his conception of a vertical lift flying machine has since been acknowledged and his genius is now being celebrated.
Unaipon’s vertical lift craft design, based on the aerodynamic principles of the boomerang, were recently applied by students at the University of New South Wales in the construction of a drone. Together, with Uncle Moogy, a descendant of David Unaipon, the students were inspired to successfully construct and then to fly their drone, realizing one of Unaipon’s dreams.
Photograph sourced from:
https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/07/UNSW-engineers-help-David-Unaipon-helicopter-dream-real
Glossary
Laklinyeris: denotes grouping of families connected through kinship and ceremony.
by Isa Brown March 2025
