Abstract: A football passer is provided for passing a football in spiral fashion following a pre-set time delay from an apparatus which comprises a frame, a rigid guide rod fixed at one end on said frame and extending angularly upward therefrom to a free end, an elongate elastomeric sling fixed at opposite ends to said frame spaced on opposite sides of said free end of said guide rod, a latch on said frame adjacent said fixed one end of the guide rod, said latch engaging said elastomeric sling intermediate its ends when said sling is stretched along the guide rod to said one end, timer control on the frame at said one end of the guide rod controlling the release of said latch, and a football having a central axial end to end passage slidably received on said guide rod.

Abstract: A junction photodetector employing Pb.sub.1-x Sn.sub.x Te in narrow film strips grown epitaxially on an appropriate substrate. An appropriate metal overlaps the film to form a metal-semiconductor contact.

Abstract: One end of a throwing arm that is pivotally mounted on a frame and is equipped at one end with a football holder. Two propulsion springs are attached to the other end of the throwing arm and extend to a cocking arm that is also pivotally mounted on the frame. The common pivot axis for the two arms is located adjacent to one end of the cocking arm and between the ends of the throwing arm adjacent the springs. In operation, the throwing arm is latched in a "ready-to-throw" position generally parallel to the intended direction of flight of the football. The cocking arm is pivoted into and latched in a position in which the springs are extended so as to exert a biasing force on the throwing arm. The throwing arm is released and the springs pivot the throwing arm and the ball holder forwardly in an arc. The football is propelled from the ball holder by the centrifugal and tangential forces imparted by the pivotal motion of the holder, without any impact that arrests movement of the holder.