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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turkey lost last nite. im a litttle bummed. yes im watching soccer now. you got a problem with that? [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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Cappadocia is a high desert region of central Turkey. It is famous for its astounding landscapes which are decorated with peculiar rock formations. It is an otherworldly place with the strange shapes of the rock towers and pillars rising against the clear desert sky. Canyons of eroded red rock, the valley floor green with scrub, vegetable plots and trees such as olive, walnut, apricot and mulberry can be hiked through easily. The vegetation is sparse enough that losing the trail doesn't cause panic stations. The remains of cave dwellings make the walking even more exciting. For centuries, even millenia, people have [View Full Entry]

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Carmen San Diego would be proud. Now who were the Mole People, really? I mean I know thats a term thrown around in conversation usually jokingly, but I actually have no idea who they really were. e.g. "What happened to Jerry, man? Ever since he started dating Sally, he's been MIA." "Yeah dude, he's turned into one of the Mole People... or something." A quick visit to Wiki yields that "Mole People is a term used to refer to the possibility that an unknown number of homeless people live under New York City in abandoned subway tunnels." Well. I have found [View Full Entry]

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It has been about five months now and Rozy and I have experienced, discussed and analysed the many differences (both subtle and extreme) between the transport systems of 6 different countries. Our travels in Turkey bring us closest to some of the most economically developed countries in the world, and, one would probably expect a jump in the quality of the transport system given this proximity and other factors. Turkey’s transport system (specifically the bus system), much to our pleasant surprise, trumped all others we have experienced on this trip by a rather significant margin, and, on an extremely consistent basis [View Full Entry]

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