Hi,
I want to tell something about myself and how i became interested in LD.
I am 40 years of age and at the age of 17 i read an article in a Dutch scientific magazine about boomerangs by Felix Hess.
That's when i build my first boomerang, a wooden cross. In 2005 i got the boomerang fever and build several booms, encouraged by some colleagues who were also very enthusiastic about boomerangs. We even formed a company boomerang club, which is (as far as i know) the only organized boomerang club in the Netherlands.
Its not very surprisingly that, at my work, are so many boomerang enthusiasts since i work at the National Aerospace Laboratory, where the number of possible boom-enthusiasts is certainly above average.
We threw together during lunch break and still do. The website of our club can be found here:
http://www.koolloos.com/boemerang/boemerang.htmlAs you can see at the website, the boomerang test area we have available (at work!) is 300x500 meters (with a road in between
) and is very suitable for LD
.
After having made several regular booms, it was time for me to get a new challenge: LD ( and at my club i am not alone)
Apart from the test area i also have at work is lots of knowledge about aerodynamics and a variety of wind tunnels ranging from 9.5x9.5 meters until .8 x .6 meters. I think there is no better way to compare the lift and drag of different boomerang airfoils, influence of turbulators, shapes etc then in a wind tunnel. I have to convince my boss to do some tests, but what arguments should i use? I think its possible to measure lift and drag on a rotating full size boomerang in a wind tunnel under different conditions like flow velocity, angular velocity and angle of attack. If somebody is interested in wind tunnel test, and can find a sponsor to perform the measurements let me know!
My goal:
- make new friends
- make new boomerangs
- attend a LD tournament
- make it to the 100+ club
Paul
Author
