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The Pilip Connection

I'm not sure what year it was (I think 1993) that a friend of mine named Wayne Pilip traveled to Australia for a vacation, and knowing of my new-found love of boomerangs, brought back a couple as gifts for me and my wife. He had picked up a few for himself as well. I was mortified to tell him that one of the souvenirs he had purchased had wings shaped incorrectly and there was no way it could fly. Most of the models he brought back were excellent however.

I should note that when my boomerang making partner Chris Meek and I were first shown these genuine Australian boomerangs, a girl who was present offended us horribly by saying "Now you guys can see some real boomerangs to copy", implying that the ones we had been making were somehow fake.

Click on the thumbnail for a larger version of the picture.

Name   Picture Date Description
  giant_Boom.jpg (49042 bytes) x/x/93 A copy of one of the "real" Australian boomerangs brought back by a friend. This thing is huge, heavy, and dangerous. It is 20 inches from tip-to-tip and flies surprisingly well. If it's coming in fast though, its best to get out of the way instead of losing your hand.

TinyBoom.jpg (51691 bytes)This has joined my Wallflower(tm) Series and is currently on display in my office. It is so big, I had to scan it in in 3 pieces and cut-and-paste them together for the final image. Notice that the paint job is the same (though differently proportioned) as this tiny model: 

Mr. Pilip has also purchased some Digital Boomerang Systems models as well as received some as gifts. Unfortunately the years haven't been kind to his collection and several are no longer flight-worthy (read: "in two or more pieces"). Below are a couple that he liked enough to display on a wall in his home. They are in excellent condition even though he did insist on throwing and catching each one before relegating them to the wall. 

Name   Picture Date Description
  Wayne-W-Boom_web.jpg (39394 bytes) 12/25/93 As gifts one Christmas, I made boomerangs for several friends in the shape of one of their initials. This one was loaned to me by Wayne Pilip so I could scan it in. I really like Kevin's "K", Vivian's "V", and Tauhert's "T", but I particularly like this one because someday, I might duplicate it and give Michelle an "M".

This still flies great even after hanging on a wall for several years.
  Wayne-Hat-Boom_web.jpg (65736 bytes) 8/30/93 Another loaner from Wayne. A beautiful unit that was somehow damaged by someone missing a catch after they threw it in a gravel parking lot.