European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 25, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Pace great Way to Fly a until you re grounded by Theresa Bujnoch Quot it s a great Quot it s a Quot it s a great Way to Burn leave Quot it s that s what you hear about space a travel. To me it s a lot like driving the Speed limitless German autobahn. Initially you feel like you re getting away with something. But soon you learn the meaning of the German word stau. One Way or another you pay. This Story was written Over the course of several Days at in Ciurlik a in Adana Turkey. After being passed Over by four planes i had much time to think about the concept of something for nothing. I also found that while there s usually no avoiding a stau you can bypass some wasted time flying space available. Some of us just have to team the hard started our trip to Turkey was based on solid planning. My husband called Rhein main a Germany and Learned a government contracted 727 was flying round trip to Adana every tuesday and saturday. The space a schedule changes sometimes monthly. For example this flight now goes on tuesdays and thursdays these big planes typically Fly with several dozen seats available. We also smartly decided to Fly in the Early Spring typically a less crowded time. So far so Good. We would Fly out of Rhein main at 6 . Saturday. Show time was 4 . Seats for space available flights Are Given away on a first come basis according to passenger priority status so others on the flight arrived at Midnight when their leave started to sign up. My husband started his leave a Day Early and drove from Mannheim to Frankfurt to sign us up on Friday i did not need to go along. We would learn later this precaution was t necessary because the flight was about half full. But under different circumstances it might have been too risky to Register so close to the flight time. Show time actually came at about 4 30. There is a Roll Call and people Are called Forward from the registration roster to claim their spots. After that the process goes much like it would on a commercial flight except the staff is friendlier. You get a boarding pass. Check in your Luggage and proceed to your Gate. Our flight stopped at Ramstein a before going on to Turkey and it was there we realized our first planning error. We could have joined the flight at Ramstein and saved a few hours sleep although we May have faced a greater risk of being bumped. At Ramstein we had to de plane take a bus from the plane to the terminal a three minute trip i think and wait in the terminal for about 20 minutes. Then we went Back through Security and got on another bus to get Back on the same plane. Believe me this can seem a lot longer than it to a fellow passenger commenting about the slow Pace muttered "1 Hope these Guys Don t All plan to go work for the airlines when they get from there it was an enjoyable 4vj-hour flight to Adana. On commercial aircraft meals Are free and alcoholic beverages May be purchased. On other flights you pay a Small fee for a meal and no alcohol is allowed. Upon arriving in Adana we took another Quick bus ride Back to the terminal. After Clearing customs we realized another tactical error. Because of turkish elections the base would be closed the next Day no one would be allowed to enter or leave. Being flexible space a travellers we decided to take a medevac medical evacuate on flight out the next morning to Izmir on the West coast of Turkey and work our Way Back to Adana where Vve would catch a plane Back the following saturday Little do Vve know but we were making two More mistakes that would Cost us later flying Blind the next morning Vve flow in a c-9 Nightingale to Izmir tone of its stops Enro Ute to Ramstein ast while aboard we realized our next mistake. At in Ciurlik we had registered for the return flight to femur so. Once you do this your name remains on the St until Vou take a flight out of that Airport. So by flying to Izmir we lost our spot on the roster and would not be Able to Register for the flight Home until the follow a Friday evening when Tito coed on 22
