On Monday we had a nice breakfast and walked along the promenade up to Gulhane park on the outside of the Topkapi Palace walls. Walking up the hills there were a few cafe's up the path with a few hundred tables overlooking wonderful views of the Bosphorus strait which connects the Sea of Marmara and the Black sea. Walking through the park there are several covered trellises with a bench where couples would be holding each other similar to a lovers lane idea. I suppose it is a private place where people can show their affection for one another as [View Full Entry]

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We left the Grand Sakarya Hotel on Sunday morning and travelled with the U.S. team into Istanbul about 3hrs by bus,It was quite the experience for the bus driver manouvering around the very narrow streets. At one point we came around a corner and were faced with an on coming bus in which the honking and yelling between drivers began, What a show!Once we got to the Hotel we discovered we were not staying in the same hotel as the U.S. team so we had to get taxied to another Best Western right on the Ocean for a great price. What [View Full Entry]

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We went out the other night to the restaurant in the park again. We happened in on a family festival happening. I asked the waiter and with a few words he jestered it was the muslim tradition of the coming of manhood for a young man. Other wise known as a circumcision party We were up on a balcony overlooking all what was going on. we must have arrived near the end all the men were seated in another area of the park while all the women and children were up dancing to traditional turkish music and dressed up very nicely. [View Full Entry]

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Well we only had minor damage today. Joe landed pretty hard and bucked the fuslage a bit. Everyone is trying to fix yesterdays damage as I try to properly pace my self as the Jack Daniel van just opened and are serving. It's quite something how passionate these guys are in their planes. My goal is to stay out of their way and not step on the wingtips AGAIN. We are currently in 24th place. Good thing there are only 25 teams or we would feel really bad. our goal is to stay ahead of the Romanians. Speaking of Romanians, there [View Full Entry]

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Got off the field late Sunday night from the opening ceremonies which were impressive. They were giving out free Jack Daniels Vodka and tequila by good looking girls in tight white shirts. Pictures to follow. We had a late night dinner and was curious as to what Crap Flakes were so when I received it I got Imitation Crab salad AKA Crap Flakes. We are at the field from 7am to 730pm so it is long days. There was lots of wind in the afternoon and some people are estimating up to $50,000 damage to planes colliding and crashing. Looks cool [View Full Entry]

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Well we had a prep day and registration for the Worlds and did some practise flying. The day was going well till Joe buried his plane in the trees (Small poplar used for pulp). Some damage but he seems to feel it is fixable. I guess it was a misjudgment on his approach. We had the opening ceremonies and all marched on to the field in our own respective countries. It was quite well done and I will post the video on this when I return. Sorry for no pictures. I have had no time to get to it. We are [View Full Entry]

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Got up early today and spent some time talking to the bell hop that works here. Really nice guy Told me about the big earthquake which rocked this region in 99 and that it killed 100,000 people. He seemed to be quite hardened by it and was obviously affected by it somehow. He works here 12hrs/day 6 days per week for 650 Turkish Lira or 500.00 per month. He likes to practice his english with westerners. We had the Sporapi Cup Finals today and Joe placed 84th, Simon was 134th and Dave was 138th. Our purpose was only to prep for [View Full Entry]

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Today was the first Day of the Sporapi Cup and I felt like I was going to Sporapi all over. I didn't get the first launch off but it turns out there was a signal infraction and we got a re-fly. So nothing lost. Once our captain got me re-focused it was smooth sailing for the rest of the day. 33 degrees but a slight breeze. We are using this tournament to work out the bugs for the World Cup starting on Monday our time. Our flyers had some good flights and some bad ones but will be fine tuning tomorrow [View Full Entry]

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We'll we made it over after long fights and some delays in Frankfurt due to thunder and Lightning. What a neat country. Coming by shuttle through Istanbul was very interesting with the traffic was crazy but organized. Miles of hills covered with houses/Apartment buildings. This is the biggest city in Europe and it shows. Got in late Wednesday night Turkish time and then back up early to go to the competition field 20 minutes from our Hotel. Meeting some interesting people and the local Turks are very Hospitable. Even with the language barrier a smile goes along way. We had a [View Full Entry]

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Hey all Flying out today from Qualicum at 1pm and then out of Vancouver at 4pm. We arrive in Frankfurt at 11am their time and fly out to Istanbul at 130 and arrive at 4pm. Will be a long day but hopefully will get some sleep. There are 3 of us on the team flying from Vancouver and the other 2 will be meeting in Istanbul. Shuttles are all set and we are staying at the http://www.sakaryagrandhotel.com/eng/iletisim.php. This is 20kms from the flying field and we get driven there everyday. It sounds like we have a practice day then a tournament [View Full Entry]

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