Patience is a Virtue.

Well the season isn't carrying the momentum we hoped for after getting a jump start back in freakin November.  People are running around spouting "global warming" assuming these last two unusually warm months are because the Earth is getting warmer.  But we've been noticing that the spring months have been colder the last few seasons so it appears to me to be a shift in the seasonal cycles.

At least that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.  Otherwise I might become suicidal at the thought that my snowkite seasons might be getting shorter.

I've been playing with various Arcs that I haven't had much time on and cruising on my Coyotes (off road skates) as a substitute for skis and snow.  The Coyotes are actually a hell of a lot of fun but I use them rarely because they dig in a lot if the ground is a little soft and I don't want to tear up anyone's fields.

But when the surface is firm they're a hoot.

Mo and Jo

Molly and I have been static flying a bit these last few weekends and teaching our friend Jotham (A.K.A. Mr. Oliver) how to fly.  Molly has been doing most/all of the teaching while I've been flying and riding.  Jotham is picking it up quickly in and it's awesome watching the progression.  It'a amazing how learning to fly a kite instantly turns a full grown adult into a little kid.  You can just see thier eyes light up when that kite's in the air.  It really is like magic.

It's also great to see a new rider learn because it reminds you of when you were in the same boat.  You see them do things that you remember doing when you were learning and you just have to chuckle to yourself.  And it's interesting to see how some things really challenge them while others don't.  Everyone is a bit different and it's striking to me to see Jotham totally nail some things that I remember having trouble with when I started while struggling with things that came naturally to me. 

Sure, having someone there to walk you through it could have something to do with it.  Still, it's always great to see kiting again through a beginner's eyes.

Jotham is progressing fast though.  I get a kick out of watching him make the classic beginner mistakes like sheeting the bar in (pulling the bar in) all the time and steering the bar like bus driver with a steering wheel (turning the bar clockwise/counter clockwise) instead of a like a boxer throwing punches (pulling one end of the bar while pushing the other away).



"Steering the Wheel", fully sheeted in, flyin into the ground. D'OH!

 But before long he'll be able to fly without any assistence.  Then it will be a short jump to get him up and riding on snow. Once he gets out on the snow and gets a taste of that action he'll be hooked.  Especially since he lives near some really great kiting areas.

DUCK!

Of course teaching someone to fly is not without risks.  Always stay behind the new guy when possible!

As I said earlier I've been playing around with some of the Arcs that I don't fly very often.  One I've been playing with is the 6m Phantom 2 Proto.  I flew it a bit last winter and Molly flew the hell out of it a couple of times.  It's a great little kite and for it's size, just like the Charger, it can build a ton of power if you work it.  The other is a 10m Charger Prototype.  Man what a sweet kite!

Looking up the Saco towards Washington.

I've been playing around a bit with my Drift helmet cam as well.  I made a wingtip mount so I could see the actuation of the Phantom/Charger VPC system in flight.  I also wanted to see how much spar deflection there is when you really work the kite in a hard turn.  All the footage was static flying and I think it will look different when I'm actually riding but it is amazing to see how the wing responds and reacts to input.



Spar flex at Autozenith.





Spar flex in while turning.



Pretty wild I think.  Pepijn Smit head Arc cat at Peter Lynn once told me to try running spars that allow for the most amount of flex without completely folding. This would allow for getting the most out of the wing profile if I understand correctly. My friend Mike ran some REALLY flexy fiberglass spars in his 15m Charger and it was pretty wild.  They were too flexy and if you really flogged the kite she would go nuts and fall out of the sky. 

Anyway, sorry I haven't had much to report on the snowkite front lately.  Ol' Man Winter is droppin the ball on us here in the Northeast.  Hopefully in the next few weeks we'll have a little more going on.  My friends in Minnesota have ice, maybe a trip west would be prudent.



Self Portrait.



Until next time.