Flying Toys

Aerobie Pro Ring Breaks Quarter-Mile Barrier at Fort Funston San Francisco, CA, July 14, 2003 Six of the world's best disc throwers gathered at Fort Funston today to try for a new open throwing record. The old record of 1,257 feet was set at the same location in 1986 by Scott Zimmerman, throwing an Aerobie flying ring, invented by Stanford Engineering lecturer Alan Adler. Erin Hemmings of Mendocino, California threw his Aerobie an amazing 1,333 feet. Hemmings had practiced many hours and made two trips from his Mendocino home to Fort Funston to better prepare himself for today's event. Adler had offered a $1,000 prize for a new world record and was thrilled to witness the achievement. He said, "The winds today were much weaker today than they had been for the 1986 record. If you had asked me about the chances of a new record one minute earlier, I'd have said that they were extremely slim. Then Hemmings launched the perfect throw -- right along the cliff edge. It was beautiful to follow in binoculars, floating along absolutely straight and level. It looked like it was levitating". The distance was measured four times (just to be sure) with a Leica Laser Rangefinder by Rich Neuschaefer, a prominent Bay Area astronomy observer.