Lesson 3
Don't let the fear of falling keep you from knowing the joy of flight. -Lane Wallace
Lesser Known Broomstick Models
The Bluebottle
The bluebottle broomstick is a very special broomstick that aren't very well known. Most broomsticks are made for a single rider, however this broomstick does not follow this pattern. The Bluebottle is the only known family broomstick on the market known to magical kind. This broomstick also has a special Anti-Burglar Buzzer on it to detere criminals from swiping the broomstick for their own. That's about the extent of the knowledge known to muggles about this broomstick.
Moontrimmers
The moontrimmer is a great example of an lesser known broomstick. When created back in 1901, this broomstick was a record breaker. Compared to racing brooms of the modern age, these broomsticks are splinters. (Get it? I've been working on my broom jokes.) With it's ash handle, this broomstick's record breaking achievements included the ability to fly to new heights. What Gladys Boothby, the brooms inventor, didn't know was that a broomstick that barely went seventy miles an hour would easily be outdone years later. Which quickly made the Moontrimmers out of date.
Oakshaft 79's
This broom also has a record breaking achievement tied to its name. This extremely heavy broomstick wasn't made for racing at all. The design was made for more long distance rides instead of short sprints like modern day brooms. The record breaking achievement that this broomstick holds is that it was used by Jocunda Sykes to cross the entire Atlantic Ocean by a broomstick. Since it's creation, by Elias Grimstone, all the way back in 1879, this broomstick has also grown to be obsolete.
The Shooting Star
The Shooting Star broomstick models are well, to put it nicely, out of date. They have a reputation for being the cheapest racing brooms avaliable, but their price reflects the quality of the broomstick as well.
The broomstick was release in 1955, which is the first hint that it's rather out of date. The company eventually went out of business in the year 1978 probably due to the fact that they couldn't keep up with the racing broom industry. Hogwarts is known to own a few shooting star broomsticks as well, even though according to Ron Weasley a shooting star broomstick could be, "oustripped by butterflies."
The broomstick was release in 1955, which is the first hint that it's rather out of date. The company eventually went out of business in the year 1978 probably due to the fact that they couldn't keep up with the racing broom industry. Hogwarts is known to own a few shooting star broomsticks as well, even though according to Ron Weasley a shooting star broomstick could be, "oustripped by butterflies."
Silver Arrows
The Silver Arrow broomstick is probably the most well known of these broomsticks that we are covering. What gives these brooms their well known reputation? Madam Hooch of course. The Hogwarts Flying Instruction during Harry Potter's time at Hogwarts once rode one of these broomsticks. Her comparision of the Silver Arrow to a modern Firebolt shows just how much potiental the broom actually had. According to Madam Hooch's description, we can infer that both broomsticks have long slinder handles made of the same wood.
The broomstick was created by a man named Leonard Jewkes. It was a great broomstick back in it's day beating out both the Oakshaft 79 and Moontrimmer brooms when it came to speed. It was the only broom of it's time that had managed to hit 70 miles per hour, but that usually needed the assistance of a good strong tailwind. Anyways we'll move on.
The broomstick was created by a man named Leonard Jewkes. It was a great broomstick back in it's day beating out both the Oakshaft 79 and Moontrimmer brooms when it came to speed. It was the only broom of it's time that had managed to hit 70 miles per hour, but that usually needed the assistance of a good strong tailwind. Anyways we'll move on.
Tinderblast and Swiftstick
These two brooms came in a series but they don't share the same name. However, these broomsticks both share the same production company, Ellerby and Spudmore. However the Tinderblast was the earlier product of the company. It first made it's appearance on the broomstick market back in 1940. It wasn't as fast as the Comet or Cleansweep series, so this broomstick was never used widely in the sport of quidditch.
Twelve years later in 1952, the same company produced the first Swiftstick. This broom too lacked some severe problems with it's speed and terrible ability to ascend quickly, so it too like it's predecessor was never used widely in the sporting world. So we'll leave these old brooms for the museum.
Twelve years later in 1952, the same company produced the first Swiftstick. This broom too lacked some severe problems with it's speed and terrible ability to ascend quickly, so it too like it's predecessor was never used widely in the sporting world. So we'll leave these old brooms for the museum.
The Twigger 90
This broomstick has a similar story to our previous two brooms. The Twigger 90 was produced more as a gimmick than an actual racing broom. So when Flyte and Barker produced the first Twigger 90 in 1990, it wasn't a real big success. The broomstick was found to warp whenever it reached high speeds, which would not cut it for those who wished to become quidditch players. So the broomstick's popularity took a steep nosedive and never hit the sky high results the company was hoping for. (Ok. I'll quit with the jokes.)
Flying Essentials: Maneuvering Your Broomstick
My goodness. It seems just a month ago you were learning how to mount your broomstick and getting it into the air...Oh, that was last month...My where has the time has gone? Anyways, this month we're going to learn how to maneuver your broomstick while in the air. So basically, your going to learn how to stear. Now first things first, Don't any of you be flying near that whomping willow. I really don't feel like taking any of you to the hospital wing. But anywho. Let's begin with our steering lesson.
-Going Forward: Now that you're hovering above the ground gently lean forward on your broomstick in order to move forward.
-Going Backward: Now if you lucky enough to have a broomstick that goes backward, you'll probably want to turn you head back so you can see what's behind you, but
other than that, all you'll need to do is shift your weight to the back end of the broomstick. That will make the broomstick slowly begin to move
backwards.
-Turning Left: Now that you can fly straight we're going to take a bit to learn how to turn. I'm assuming you all know your left from your right, so with your hands on your
broom handle gently guide the broom handle to your left. The broomstick will slowly begin to turn in that direction.
-Turning Right: This process is similar to turning left, your just going to guide the handle to the right instead of the left!
Congratulations! Now that you've learned how to steer, you are more than half way done with learning how to fly a broomstick properly!
-Going Forward: Now that you're hovering above the ground gently lean forward on your broomstick in order to move forward.
-Going Backward: Now if you lucky enough to have a broomstick that goes backward, you'll probably want to turn you head back so you can see what's behind you, but
other than that, all you'll need to do is shift your weight to the back end of the broomstick. That will make the broomstick slowly begin to move
backwards.
-Turning Left: Now that you can fly straight we're going to take a bit to learn how to turn. I'm assuming you all know your left from your right, so with your hands on your
broom handle gently guide the broom handle to your left. The broomstick will slowly begin to turn in that direction.
-Turning Right: This process is similar to turning left, your just going to guide the handle to the right instead of the left!
Congratulations! Now that you've learned how to steer, you are more than half way done with learning how to fly a broomstick properly!