Did Australia’s boomerangs pave the way for flight? | CPT PPP Coverage

As early aviators discovered, the secret to flight is balancing the flow of air. Therefore, an aircraft’s wings, tail or propeller blades are often shaped in a specially designed, curved manner called an aerofoil that lifts the plane up and allows it to drag or turn to the side as it moves through the air.  

For many years, scholars couldn’t figure out how, exactly, a boomerang flew. Yet, in the last 50 years, scientists have realised that boomerangs are designed in a similar aerofoil manner as aeroplane wings, with each side or “wing” of a boomerang curved to give it aerodynamic lift. Therefore, whether intentional or not, the boomerang may have been a pivotal Indigenous predecessor to modern flight.

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