Concert at METU with Yigit and Isil.

Annie and I met up with Yigit Yildirim and his girlfriend Isil to go to a Turkish concert last night in a stadium at the Middle Eastern Technical University. It was good - particularly the woman solo singer with red hair who reminded me of Bjork. She was dynamite. She sung about her lover who was like the match that hadn't been struck. The other band sung about the Iraq war and the Turkish government - very political. The night before we'd had dinner and played backgammon in downtown Ankara. Yigit won both games by using strategy. I asked him what his strategy was like in paragliding - he's competed in PWCs around the world - lots of competition experience. 'I'm good in strong conditions' he said, 'but when conditions are weaker I don't have much patience and I often go down'. Yigit has also competed in two Vertigo acro competitions. He flies with a Gradient Avax comp wing. He's very good and modest with it. The weather is worsening for XC now. It's raining a lot and getting cold. Will I be able to fly XC at all this season? Time is running out. Yigit told us that the big birds we saw thermalling on the drive to Ankara were storks ('the ones that carry the babies')! 'Yigit' means 'brave man' in Turkish. 'Isil' means 'ray of light' or 'sparkle'.

Yamasut Turkiye Open Paragliding Championship 2006

This was a competition that I was invited to this weekend, but since I have no car, no money, no time, no Ankara contacts, etc, at this point in time, I couldn't get to it. Details can be found at http://www.yamasut.com/. I'd be interested to hear who got the top spots.

E-mail exchange between Bork and con-man ‘Angela Green’ (28th Aug – 6th Sept).

Angela initially made the inquiry about a paraglider I had been advertising on the web. His scam is a common one.

From ‘Angela Green’

Hello...i will like to know if this Item is still available? also will want to know the present condition and get back to me with pictures if this is available .

From Bork

Shiny, crispy, fresh, smells good, just as new. Special price for you. Can be used as a cover in snow as well as a flying machine. Only 1000 pounds sterling. Send me a check and I'll send you the fabric. It's lovely!

From Angela

Thats okay...Now i will like you to know that i will be making my payment Via Check but i can only make a payment drawn in the Uk pounds sterlin so i will like you to know that this item will be picked up at your location as soon as payment is settled.....Regarding the picking up of the item i will be including the pickup fee to the check payment that will be sent to you and as soon as you have it cashed deduct the item fee from it and send the remaining fund to the pickup agent so that they can come asap for the pickup.....Like i said the Item payment will be 1000£ and you will be receiving a check of £3200....If this is acceptable kindly mail me your name address and contact phone number so that the check can be sent immediately.

Waiting to read from you soon.

Thanks

From Bork

What does 'drawn in the Uk pounds sterling' mean? And 'payment is settled'? And 'pickup fee'? What is a 'pickup agent'?Please explain all this in fine detail so that we can move forward with our deal and all end up happy and satisfied. I am afraid of getting cheated by crooks, so I need to know the true details.

From Angela

Okay....What i mean by Uk pounds sterlin is this...i will be sending you check that will be drawn in any Uk bank...and pickup fee is Just the added fee that will be on the check you will receive,and the pickup agent are the ones that will come to your location to pick the Item up as soon as the check is cleared through your bank...

Let me know if this has answerd your questions.
Thanks

From Bork

So you send me a check for £3200. I clear this with my bank, and then you have a pick-up agent come to me to pick up the paraglider. Do I then pay the agent any money for the pickup? What do I do with the £2,200 extra?

From Angela

Yes as soon as you clear the check with your bank you will send the extra fee to the pickup agent via WESTERN UNION so that they can come immediately for the pickup. Get back to me if this is Okay by you.
Thanks

From Bork

No problem. We live in Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey - only 4 hours from Istanbul . Just send the cheque to the Security Office.

From Angela

I dont Understand? Get back asap.

From Bork

We're nearly there. Now I'm confusing you!I need to know that your agent can come to Bilkent, Ankara in the Anatolian plain in Turkey to pick up the paraglider. Here a paraglider is considered military equipment and we may go to jail if I try to send it by parcel.

From Angela

Okay...They will come to Turkey for the collections,first as soon as you get the check deduct the item fee from it and send the remaining money to the pickup agent so that they can come immediately for the picking up.i want you to send me your name address and contact phone number so that the check can be sent. Note that my agent will come to Turkey for thepickup as soon as the payment is sealed.
Thanks

From Bork

Hi Angela,

I should be honest with you. I haven't been completely straight...Do you realise that when your agent comes to pick up the paraglider, there is a chance that he will be arrested for possession of something that is considered illegal here in Turkey? Are you prepared to take the risk to have your agent smuggle the paraglider through Turkey? Once he reaches Bulgaria he will be fine, but he needs to keep the paraglider concealed - perhaps in a secret compartment in his car - until then. If you are prepared to risk arrest for your agent, then I will certainly send you my address and we can get the cheques written out immediately.I await your decision...

From Angela

Wow...No Problem on that what you just have to do for me is as soon as you get the check deduct the paraglider fee from it and send the Balance Immediately to the pickup agent they will come immediately...i will also want you to email me the Info for the check to be written asap.

Thanks

From Bork

Hi Angela,
Are you sure? Do you know what the inside of a Turkish prison looks like? Do you know that guards TORTURE inmates with complete immunity? And VERY FEW people succeed in smuggling paragliders out to Bulgaria. They are very strict in how they search the car. I need to know how your agent is going to smuggle the paraglider through customs. A good method is to wrap it in hay and pretend to be a Bulgarian farmer. Is this a possibility? I need to know for peace of mind. I wouldn't want your agent to end up in a Turkish prison, being tortured. Would you? Once I know he has a clever plan, then I'll send you the details for the cheque, so we can exchange these sums of money ASAP.

Please tell me IN DETAIL how he will conceal the paraglider and what disguise he will use. If he has a good method, I - in fact - have 3 MORE paragliders that I need to sell (for £3000 in total). I will of course pay the extra for the agent to cover the extra costs if you are interested. But I need to know his methods or I will not sell.

Best wishes...

From Angela

DONT WORRY HE HAS BEEN PICKING ITEMS UP FOR ME SO HE SHOULD KNOW HOW TO DO ITS SMARTLY NEVER WORRY ABOUT HIM HE HAS ALL THE NECCESARY PASSPORT TO TRAVELL ANY WHERE IN THE WORLD SO NO DOUT.
LET ME HAVE THE INFO FOR THE CHECK PAYMENT AND AS SOON AS ITS ARRIVES DO SEND THE PICKUP FEE IMMEDIATELY SO THAT THEY CAN COME FOR THE PICKUP.

HAVE NO FEAR
THANKS

From Bork

You're not trying to trick me by any chance?

From Angela

What are you talking about? i told you the Item will be picked up at your resident as soon as the check is confirmed cleared by your bank you will deduct the excess fee that is on the check to the pickup agent who will be coming for the picuk.

Get back to me with the Info for the check payment if this is acceptable.
Thanks

From Bork

I must tell you now that I have been tricking you all along! I don't have a paraglider, and I don't live where I said I did. Paragliders are not illegal in Turkey and there is no need for your agent to dress up as a Bulgarian farmer! I know you are a conman and I wanted to have fun being a conman too! Better luck next time.

From Angela

Hello since you are also a Con man we could work Things out....Can you Cash this Check for me we will make it a deal it will be 50% a piece..
Let me know if this is Possible.
And again where are you from ?
Thanks

Migrating birds, arriving in Ankara, and local contacts and information.

Annie and I have now been at our campus apartment in Bilkent University, Ankara for a week. We drove the 9 hour trip from Kalkan to Ankara on Saturday 26th.



The landscape on the drive up is spectacular, with successive mountain ranges receding into vast flatlands in the Anatolian heart of the country. We saw something awe-inspiring half way through our journey: thousands of large birds, which due to the scale involved looked like a dense swarm of insects, thermalling together above the flatlands - all in one colossal thermal. The picture doesn't do this spectacle justice. Were these storks? Does anyone know?


Thousands of migrating birds in a thermal.

I have been in touch with two local pilots since arriving in Ankara. An instructor living Ankara called Yigit who invited me as a guest on an SIV course in Olu Deniz this weekend (1st - 3rd Sept). My contract starts on Monday so unfortunately I cannot afford to travel such a distance in the circumstances. I have also been in correspondence with one of the Akcalar brothers - Hakan. He lives in Istanbul, but travels all around the country on weekends with his flying friends looking for epic cross country. You can see he and his brother have not been slacking if you check out their flights on Paragliding Forum's Leonardo online XC league. Here are some excerpts from his helpful e-mails to me:

Hi Mark. You're welcome to Turkey :) Here we have a XC group of friends. We usually decide what we do for the weekend on Thursdays. This is because of the weather forecasts allowing a three day foreseeing. These months are the best season in Turkey. 2 weeks ago the Turkey XC record has been put to 184km! Just let us know when you are ready for the weekend, then we will tell you what we are doing that weekend according to the weather. Our main destinations are denizli-cokelez, kayseri-ali dag, aksaray - ekecik. I cannot update our website nowadays but the XC flying in Turkey is running high :) We won't be attending to Bolu fest, it's just a fest, no XC there ...During September we have several organisations and competitions, don't hesitate to participate. ...

He told me about the action on the weekend that we arrived in Anakara. While the migrating birds were thermalling, so were these Turkish pilots:

Well, this weekend at Aksaray 6 pilots made 100+ km's, one 150+, some of them their first 100+, and the first turkish female made her 100+. Today another pilot made 135km at the same site ..We all hope this good weather conditions continues forever and strikes on weekends, but we will see.

I told Hakan that in the UK we typically have cloudbases of 5,000 ft (1,500 m), and in Cornwall as low as 2000 ft or less (600 m). I pointed out that this makes 100 km plus flights very challenging. I have a best distance of 55 km in the UK I told him. He replied:

We usually do not leave the hill until we are high above 3000 mt :)) We are used to soaring above 4000 mt's. Maybe you will need to be acclimatised before you do the same :)

When these dimensions hit me, it will be interesting to see how I cope! I MAY BE AN ACE AT BUZZING THE DUNES AT SENNEN, BUT HERE.... .

What about transport? These guys travel throughout this vast country. Weekend trips by car are often 8 hours plus. This was their system. It puts some of our efforts back in the UK to shame!

Transport to the city: by car, bus, plane, whatever comes handy. Usually you won't be alone, but if you do, we will give you directions. Transport to the take-off: we usually hire a local minibus there, you will just join the crowd and share the fee.

A cold front shut down XC flying in Turkey this weekend. It was in the mid 30s on Thursday and I thought I was getting heat exhaustion down in the city. Today we're down at 12 degrees and Annie has had cold feet can you believe it? But perhaps the colder air will produce truly epic conditions next weekend when I hope I can find the time away from work for an XC flying adventure. And let's see how Annie fares too! She's brave enough to fly in these conditions, but will she enjoy it and want more?