Well, Michael did not make the team, butthen we found out about the Spor YapiCup. It is a two day event right beforethe World Championships. We could stilltravel to Turkey and fly against the bestfrom around the world. Because F3J<strong>com</strong>petition is so hard to find in the USA,we decided a little practice in Turkeywould be fun.TurkeyThe World Championships are held everyother year and hosted by a differentcounty each time. This year the hostcountry was Turkey. Jim Laurel, the worldtraveler that he is, kept telling me howcool Turkey was to visit. I did not knowwhat to expect, but I had seen the movie“Midnight Express” when I was in collegeand it scared the crap out of me. I knewthat Syria and Iraq border Turkey to thesouth and the current news was tellingme that both those countries might notbe a good place for Americans to visit.Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, is the“City of Intrigue” found in every other spynovel I have read and in several JamesBond movies. In addition, my Hollywoodeducation seemed to tell me that I shouldexpect sand dunes, camel caravans,men wearing turbans and womenwearing burkas.Jim Laurel was right in a big way. Turkeywas a very cool place to visit and myHollywood education was way off. Not asingle sand dune or camel, and no menwearing turbans, and only a few womenin burkas.What we did see was HISTORY<strong>com</strong>bined with a modern society.Buildings and structures, some morethan 2000 years old, across the streetfrom a modern light rail mass transportsystem that went by whisper quiet. Youcould easily spend several weeks visitingreal history. I can remember thinking inmy architectural history college class,“What is so special about a bunch ofold buildings?” After visiting Turkey I canfinally appreciate the truly impressivenature of the ancient architecture.Turkey’s freeway system is <strong>com</strong>parableto anything you would see in the States.McDonald’s, Burger King and Starbucks,just like home. Although I could not readthe menu and the person behind thecounter could not speak English, I couldsee the images on the overhead menu,hold up the right number of fingers andsay, “Number seven.” Some things onthis planet are universal.The event was held just outside of thecity of Adaparazi, a city of about 400,000and a three hour car ride to the east ofIstanbul. On the drive there from Istanbul,we passed highly industrializedareas, huge warehouses, tower cranesand apartments — lots and lots of apartments.It was a dry, dusty environment.Adaparazi, on the other hand, is in alarge valley surrounded by green. It isheavily irrigated. The city itself is oldwith very few buildings higher than fourstories. Nearly 10,000 died there in anearthquake over ten years ago. Some ofthe earthquake damage is still apparent.In stark contrast, scattered throughoutthe city are modern shopping malls. Walkin the door and you can buy some jeansfrom the GAP.The next morning, a tour bus organizedby the event coordinators shuttled us outto the flying site. A quick jaunt acrosstown in the tour bus shows that Drivers’Education in the States is much differentthan Turkey. The bus, alongside othercars and trucks, would whip throughroundabouts, traffic lights were ignoredby everyone, horn beeping and fistshaking were as much a part of drivingas stepping on the accelerator. Carsand trucks flying in formation so close itwould impress the Blue Angels.We finally made it to the freeway and itwas just as interesting. Hmmmmm, theregoes a car traveling the wrong way downthe shoulder. Suddenly the bus pulls aU-turn in the middle of the freeway and,a few hundred feet later, quickly pulls offonto a narrow dirt road. The bus is flyingdown the dirt road next to a river withbanks so steep you wonder what keepsthe road from sliding into the river.Another sudden turn through an openingin a big dirt berm and we saw it. Nirvana— paradise for a sailplane pilot. A HUGE8 R/C Soaring Digest
Tents are a poor description of the shelters provided by the event organizers.green, well-cut grass field. The field held16 launch lanes and 16 landing zoneswith lots of room left over. Anchor pointsfor launching equipment, along withsafety zones and large digital clocks,were already set up to allow launchingand landing in three different directions.Just a few moments later we saw thenext indication that this <strong>com</strong>petitionwas going to be the best organized andpresented event ever. Team vans. TeamIstanbul had not just one, but three teamvans, painted from bumper to bumperwith sailplane and Istanbul graphics.Right behind the team vans were raisedspectator bleachers and a celebrationpodium. And just beyond the podiumwere the tents.Tents are a poor description ofthe shelters provided by the eventorganizers. Think more like metalbuildings that used plastic covered<strong>Oct</strong>ober 2008 9
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