> | From: Scott Fisher <netmail!megatest!bldg2fs1!sfisher@uu2.psi.com>
>
> | ... the scenery starts turning red in front of you and blue behind you...
>
> You must have had that kart in reverse. The doppler shift normally goes
> the other way, blue-shifting in the direction of your travel and and
> red-shifting behind. Or is this a Southern Hemisphere doppler effect?
Yeah, yeah. :-) Actually, my most dramatic memory of that day *did*
involve going in reverse. I was on course with three other guys, one
of whom, Mark Shuler, is known to at least one other list member and
is now the Solo II National champion in FP (not in a Britcar, though).
Mark had been slowly catching me, and I was trying to stay in front
of him. Going into turn 4 at the Oxnard track, I tried to carry too
much speed and the kart did a snap-spin. Mark had been more or less
drafting me up to that point; when I suddenly found myself backwards,
we were basically toe-to-toe (feet stick out well in front of the
wheel centerline on a sprint kart). Mark's eyes were open wider than
the aperture in his helmet, and I suspect mine were probably much
the same. I tried to do the Danny Sullivan thing and keep the kart
going; I got it turned around but not in time to keep it out of the
iceplant, nose-first. I backed out without stalling the kart and
continued (though with a mandatory stop-and-go so that the instructor
could shake his finger at me for the spin).
So that must be why I got the effect backward. Yeah, that's the ticket...
--Scott "Hey, I put the Fizz in Doppler-Fizeau" Fisher
|