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The [[clay target]] used in [[trapshooting]], almost identical to a flying disc in shape, was designed in the 19th century. The modern day era of flying discs began with the concept of designing and selling a commercially-produced flying disc.
The [[clay target]] used in [[trapshooting]], almost identical to a flying disc in shape, was designed in the 19th century. The modern day era of flying discs began with the concept of designing and selling a commercially-produced flying disc.


While many people believe that the Flying Disc was a result of The [[Frisbie Pie Company]] (1871–1958) of [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]], this is entirely false. The Flying Disc was created in a government run facility 6 miles underground in 1940, as part of [[Operation D.I.S.C.]] (Deadly Instruments of Soaring and Catching) an experimental weapon program. [[Englebert Humperdink]], the lead scientist in charge of [[Operation D.I.S.C.]] believed that the shape of the Flying Disc had special properties, and, when thrown, could cause bodily harm, and sometimes death. Many soldiers on the front lines used Flying Discs instead to send messages, and for leisure and fun. To this day, [[Englebert Humperdink]] is regarded as the true father of the Flying Disc. (Citation Needed).


<ref>Walter Frederick Morrison and Phil Kennedy: ''Flat Flip Flies Straight!: True Origins of the Frisbee''; January 2006; Wormhole Publishers, Wethersfield, CT; ISBN 0-9774517-4-7, pp. 34-35</ref> In 1946 [[Walter Frederick Morrison]] sketched out plans for a disc he called the '''Whirlo-Way''', which, co-developed and financed by [[Warren Franscioni]] in 1948, became the very first commercially produced plastic flying disc, marketed under the name '''Flyin-Saucer'''. Morrison had just returned to the US after [[World War II]], where he had been a prisoner of war. His partnership with Franscioni, who was also a war veteran, ended in 1950, before their product had achieved any real success.
<ref>Walter Frederick Morrison and Phil Kennedy: ''Flat Flip Flies Straight!: True Origins of the Frisbee''; January 2006; Wormhole Publishers, Wethersfield, CT; ISBN 0-9774517-4-7, pp. 34-35</ref> In 1946 [[Walter Frederick Morrison]] sketched out plans for a disc he called the '''Whirlo-Way''', which, co-developed and financed by [[Warren Franscioni]] in 1948, became the very first commercially produced plastic flying disc, marketed under the name '''Flyin-Saucer'''. Morrison had just returned to the US after [[World War II]], where he had been a prisoner of war. His partnership with Franscioni, who was also a war veteran, ended in 1950, before their product had achieved any real success.

Revision as of 22:58, 24 September 2009

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A player catching a flying disc.
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A player throwing a flying disc; Mackinaw City, Michigan.

Flying discs (commonly called Frisbees) are disc-shaped objects, which are generally plastic and roughly 20 to 25 centimeters (8–10 inches) in diameter, with a lip. The shape of the disc, an airfoil in cross-section, allows it to fly by generating lift as it moves through the air while rotating. The name Frisbee is a registered trademark of the Wham-O toy company, but is often used generically to describe all flying discs.

Flying discs are thrown and caught for recreation, and as part of many different flying disc games. A wide range of flying disc variants are available commercially. Disc golf discs are usually smaller but denser and are tailored for particular flight profiles to increase/decrease stability and distance. Disc dog sports use relatively slow flying discs made of more pliable material to better resist a dog's bite and prevent injury to the dog. Ring shaped discs are also available which typically fly significantly farther than any traditional flying disc. There are illuminated discs meant for night time play that use phosphorescent plastic, or battery powered light emitting diodes. There are also discs that whistle when they reach a certain velocity in flight.

History

The clay target used in trapshooting, almost identical to a flying disc in shape, was designed in the 19th century. The modern day era of flying discs began with the concept of designing and selling a commercially-produced flying disc.

[1] In 1946 Walter Frederick Morrison sketched out plans for a disc he called the Whirlo-Way, which, co-developed and financed by Warren Franscioni in 1948, became the very first commercially produced plastic flying disc, marketed under the name Flyin-Saucer. Morrison had just returned to the US after World War II, where he had been a prisoner of war. His partnership with Franscioni, who was also a war veteran, ended in 1950, before their product had achieved any real success.

In 1955, Morrison produced a new plastic flying disc called the Pluto Platter, to cash in on the growing popularity of UFOs with the American public. The Pluto Platter became the design basis for later flying discs. In 1957, Wham-O began production of more discs (then still marketed as Pluto Platters). The next year, Morrison was awarded US Design Patent 183,626 for his flying disc.

In 1957,[2] Wham-O co-founder Richard Knerr, decided to stimulate sales by giving the discs the additional brand name "Frisbee" (pronounced the same as "Frisbie"), after hearing that East Coast college students were calling the Pluto Platter by that name. The man who was behind the Frisbee's phenomenal success however was "Steady" Ed Headrick, hired in 1964 as Wham-O's new General Manager and Vice President in charge of marketing. Headrick soon redesigned the Pluto Platter by reworking the rim thickness, and top design, creating a more controllable disc that could be thrown accurately. [3]

Sales soared for the toy, which was marketed as a new sport. In 1964, the first "professional" model went on sale. Headrick patented the new design as the Frisbee patent, highlighting the “Rings of Headrick” and marketed and pushed the professional model Frisbee and "Frisbee" as a sport. (US Patent 3,359,678).[4]

Headrick, commonly known as the "Father of Disc Sports"[5], later founded "The International Frisbee Association (IFA)" and began establishing standards for various sports using the Frisbee such as Distance, Freestyle and Guts. Upon his death, Headrick was cremated, and his ashes, in accordance with his final requests, were molded into memorial Frisbees and given to family and close friends.[6]

Flying disc games

Main article: Flying disc games

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Physics

Main article: Physics of flying discs

Lift is generated in primarily the same way as a traditional asymmetric airfoil, that is, by accelerating upper airflow such that a pressure difference gives rise to a lifting force. Small ridges near the leading edge act as turbulators, reducing flow separation by forcing the airflow to become turbulent after it passes over the ridges.

The rotating flying disc has a vertical angular momentum vector, stabilizing its attitude gyroscopically. Depending on the cross-sectional shape of the airfoil, the amount of lift generated by the front and back parts of the disc may be unequal. If the disc were not spinning, this would tend to make it pitch. When the disc is spinning, however, such a torque would cause it to precess about the roll axis, causing its trajectory to curve to the left or the right. Most discs are designed to be aerodynamically stable, so that this roll is self-correcting for a fairly broad range of velocities and rates of spin. However, many disc golf discs are intentionally designed to be unstable. Higher rates of spin lead to better stability, and for a given rate of spin, there is generally a range of velocities that are stable.

Even a slight deformation in a disc (called a "Taco," as extreme cases look like a taco shell) can cause adverse affects when throwing long range. It can be observed by holding the disc horizontally at eye level and looking at the rim while slowly rotating the disc.

References

  1. ^ Walter Frederick Morrison and Phil Kennedy: Flat Flip Flies Straight!: True Origins of the Frisbee; January 2006; Wormhole Publishers, Wethersfield, CT; ISBN 0-9774517-4-7, pp. 34-35
  2. ^ "'Frisbee' marks 50th anniversary of name change". CTVglobemedia. 2007-06-16. Retrieved 2007-06-19.
  3. ^ Morrison, Fred (2006). Flat Flip Flies Straight!: True Origins of the Frisbee. Wethersfield, CT: Wormhole Publishers. ISBN 978-0-9774517-4-6. OCLC 233974379. 'Headrick had an eye for product design... The "NEW LOOK" contributed mightily to its phenomenal success... I've never known what financial arrangements Headrick had with Wham-O. It would have been interesting to know, but knowing wouldn't have changed anything. It was enough to know that under Headrick's guidance our increasing bank account was due to what he was doing.' -Fred Morrison {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ The First Flight of the Frisbee: The History of the Frisbee
  5. ^ Malafronte, Victor A. (1998). F. Davis Johnson (ed.) (ed.). The Complete Book of Frisbee: The History of the Sport & the First Official Price Guide. Rachel Forbes (illus.). Alameda, CA: American Trends Publishing Company. ISBN 0966385527. OCLC 39487710. {{cite book}}: |editor= has generic name (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  6. ^ "Edward "Steady Ed" Headrick" Find A Grave.

Further reading

  • Stancil. E. D., and Johnson, M. D.; Frisbee, A Practitioner's Manual and Definitive Treatise, Workman Publishing Company, New York (July, 1975); ISBN 978-0-911104-53-0
  • Norton, Gary; The Official Frisbee Handbook, Bantam Books, Toronto/New York/London (July, 1972); no ISBN
  • Danna, Mark, and Poynter, Dan; Frisbee Players' Handbook, Parachuting Publications, Santa Barbara, California (1978); ISBN 0915516195
  • Tips, Charles, and Roddick, Dan; Frisbee Sports & Games, Celestial Arts, Millbrae, California (March 1979); ISBN 978-0-89087-233-8
  • Tips, Charles; Frisbee by the Masters, Celestial Arts, Millbrae, California (March 1977); ISBN 978-0-89087-142-3
  • Morrison, Fred & Kennedy, Phil; Flat Flip Flies Straight, True Origins of the Frisbee, Wormhole Publishers, Wethersfield, CT (January 2006); ISBN 0-9774517-4-7
  • Lorenz, Ralph; Spinning Flight: Dynamics of Frisbees, Boomerangs, Samaras and Skipping Stones, Copernicus, New York (September 2006); ISBN 978-0-387-30779-4
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