Had a great late night session in low wind

Last night was beautiful night in Lausanne, with light winds that at times could even float the Gemini. I needed to clear my mind, as the day in the lab was horrible. I am here already three weeks, and I have very little data. I hope that I can still pull out the nosedive I am in, and with more than three weeks of solid experimenting left at the end, it should be possible.

I find it difficult to fly in low wind, as the Flashlight is not as tricky as the Gemini, and often catches the wind rather than floats in an axel, for example. But last night, after reading some tips on the FA forum, I seem to have gotten a bit better. Still, I need a great deal more practice. Too bad, I guess I'll have to work harder in the future, after work.

Axles are now locked in

Yeah, great week. I got a bit of science accomplished. I found a gap junction between two pyramidal cells this week. For non-neuro folks, that means squat, but it was a cool experiment.

I also got the axle locked in. I can't do it in heavy winds, but yesterday I did 8 in a row...left, right, left, etc. I am now trying to immediately reverse it...in an attempt to get a cascade going. That's not so easy. But what fun, huh? I heard someone say that after you learn to do an axel, the next thing to do is to stop doing them.

I attended "Balelec" this past evening. This is a very nice music festival on the grounds of the EPFL here in Lausanne. It sported 8 stages, and all genres of live music. It was a really good time, although the food was expensive. Today I am at the lab, but without access to the animal facility for some reason. Thus, I am working on blogs, websites, and whatever else I can occupy my time with to avoid analysis. You can guess it's raining today; otherwise I wouldn't be writing this.

Sunburn like Close Encounters

Funny, but these last few days without experiments have been pretty cool. I did get sunburned on one side of my neck, as though I had a "close encounter" with an alien space craft. Actually, it was because I had my hair in a tail which covered one side, and I faced nearly the same direction all afternoon. I find I don't get quite so bored when there is flying to be done. I focus. I get quite a bit of work done at the lab, reading papers, a bit of analysis, and still can take some time in the afternoon to fly. Yesterday, I validated a recent field by flying on it for the third day in a row. However, it's still a ultralight situation in Switzerland, which is has been frustrating until yesterday. Yesterday, I finally coaxed my Prism Flashlight into an axle. While still far from "locked in", it's a trick in progress for sure. As it turns out, this kite needs to be well set up for an axle (i.e. in a real stall, with the nose dropping just slightly) much more than the Gemini, which even in my hands makes an axel almost too easy to call a trick. I also felt like I made a much needed improvement to my snap-stall, and I even had one basic kill which I rotated into a brief but stable fade. The flic-flak was attempted but did not happen.

I could retire now to a Philippine island (with internet...to order kites) where I could start a sanctuary for freestyle flyers. There would be beach huts, bon fires, fresh fish, and always, everyday, a warm beaufort 3 from the west. I'll let you know when it's set up.

Then the sprinklers came on

Of course, I am now having doubts about moving here for a job (wink). You wouldn't believe how dead the wind can be, given such a view. Here you have a lake, mountains on the far horizon, and yet the wind is so slight at times you might have been standing in your bedroom. Don't misunderstand: I flew on and off for four hours. My kite in the picture can fly with any wind at all, even that created by walking backwards. On the other hand, a big surprise of the day was that a guy flying a Peter Lynn traction kite could get it off the ground and flying with ease...in the same wind at the same location. I have to admit, I was feeling a bit of pity for him when he was unrolling his kite, for I was convinced he was grounded. By the time he had been flying for 20 seconds, leaning deep into long slow turns, he likely had pity for me instead.

Still, with the sun and the scenery, I found a way to enjoy myself. This will likely be the first of the last few free afternoons I have here, as the mice arrive Tuesday of next week. From then on, I'll be patching everyday whenever I can. That should make it seem like a little less of a vacation.

Right before I left the sunny field of the above photograph, I though I saw the sprinklers come on. Then one came on next to me where I was packing my kite. It wasn't a sprinkler, but rather a swarm of thousands of tiny insects coming out of the grass beneath me. The really seemed to emerge mostly from the lines on the football pitch, although that I cannot explain. Maybe they came from everywhere and only swarmed over the lines. It was a bit weird.

There are alot of insects here, although suprisingly few of them bite. I would suggest that there are so many that a serious cyclist would need eye protection near the lake. If you people watch for any length of time, you find it isn't unusual to see a someone strolling in the distance suddenly veer off course while waving their hands wildly. I am sure you can see the insects in the photograph below. They appear as mist.

Anyway, next to this field, I found a spot which will certainly be the site for a few amazing photographs. You'll see in the near future that at least one truly great shot will come from this same location. Remember "kite and trees".

Westerpark flights

Well, if anyone ever reads this text, I'd like them to at least see what I fly with. The far away shot is of my Prism Flashlight in the Westerpark of Amsterdam. Nice night that was. The other photo was taken on the first day I flew my Benson Gemini. I don't have any flying shots of this kite yet. I hope to get one with the mountains in the background, here in Lausanne on the shore of Lac Leman. It's a long shot, as the wind needs to be really strange for me to get that shot. Stay tuned.

Beginning to trick my kite....

I am now working on developing the basic repetoire of tricks. I am now in Switzerland on the shores of Lac Leman, and the wind is minimal most days. I have been flying my Prism Flashlight, but I have the feeling that it's not a great beginner trick kite, although it flies exceptionally well if it has only a hint of wind. I can do a basic stop or stall in most winds and in most locations in the wind window. However, I find the axel with this kite still a bit difficult, as it doesn't rotate very quickly, and on short lines this is a problem.

What is so fascinating for me is how all-encompassing such an activity can be. I have passed as much as 4 hours without realizing it, making me late where I would have otherwise been punctual. I haven't had a hobby that was this demanding of my attention. In many ways, this could be detrimental to my career in science. If only I would have started when Andy Wardley did....