Planning Update - A week to go!

Hi folks

It's about time for an update on the team's progress as we have a week to go before we depart for the World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland.  One week!

We have been busy planning since the Team Trails last August and it will all start to come together soon. The team will basically mirror every other team that is going to the worlds with planes packed up for shipping, flights arranged, hotels & vehicle rentals booked, practice sites secured and the GPS loaded with various practice fields and the main site at the Dübendorf Air Force Base.

The tentative team itinerary below has us departing from various parts of Canada on August 2nd to meet up in Toronto as a team for our direct flight to Zurich. As we arrive after an all night flight around 8 am we will take the day to check into our hotel, get rental vehicles, assemble planes, obtain our batteries and get the lay of the land. We will all be tired so no flying is planned at this point.

August 2nd - Depart for Zurich
August 3rd - Arrive Zurich - Hotel/Vehicle Rentals/Plane Assembly/Obtain Batteries 
August 4th - Practice
August 5th - Practice
August 6th - Team Registration and more practice.... see a trend here? :-)
August 7th - AM Practice then Official Team Practice on Flight Line #2 @ 13:30-14:15 then Processing/Sound Check @ Line #2 14:50-15:30.  Team Managers Meeting @ 17:00 at the Air Force Center  - 19:00 Order Draw/Bibs at the Big Tent
August 8th - Practice
August 9th - 1st Preliminary Round
August 10th - 2nd Preliminary Round
August 11th - 3rd Preliminary Round
August 12th - 4th Preliminary Round (Managers Meeting @ 19:00 Big Tent for F-15 times)
August 13th - Rain Day F-15 Practice
August 14th - Semi Final Flights & Managers Meeting @ 18:30 Big Tent -flight order for Finals
August 15th - Final Flights, Awards & Banquet
August 16th - We will split up and go our separate ways with some planning to vacation and others returning home. 

We have added numerous links to the right side of the page and they will likely grow as the event happens. One of them is a blog from Australian Russell Edwards who has been traveling around Europe this summer attending various contests. His blog gives a good insight to the European scope of Precision Aerobatics and is a nice easy read.  (Love his Van Breakdown count!) He will be at the Worlds to cheer on the Australian team no doubt!

We will be adding the rest of the team members to this blog as authors so you can expect some posts from them throughout the event. Our busy schedule will really dictate the ability to update this page but you can expect something on here each day. Feel free to comment or ask questions but be patient for answers as connectivity may be an issue at times.

Dave