Wednesday, October 16
    By eight o'clock in the morning several chutes are glowing high overhead on a clear blue sky, while the entire town is still steeped in shadow. Following a short briefing in front of the "Cloud 9" bar, 270 registered pilots gradually head up to the starting field. All trucks and off-road vehicles are packed full and still they have to make a second round.



    At the Babadag starting ground, at an elevation of almost 2000 meters this year's festival is official commenced with representatives of the Turkish Aeronautical Association present and a "Race" discipline of 16km is announced for competing pilots.



    Just like yesterday, clouds begin forming shortly after noon but are a long way from the magnitude of those and what is more they are forming at 200m above the starting ground.

    And while Hanka Matyásková shows the Turks the charms of Czech paragliding girls, Karel Vrbenský has decided to show, right off on the first day, how damned fast Czech men can be. A total of 154 competitors are registered for the "Cross Country" competition and Karel takes the cake for today's relatively short discipline.




    The acrobatic competition has 36 racers signed up, but so far all are just practicing. Competition for the jury will, as usual, take place on the last day of the festival.



    Today's tally again includes several involuntarily bathing pilots, with the Czechs not left behind. A kicked in hotel light and the subsequent draping of a parachute over a tree are only among the smaller of Czech feats.