Did  Frederic De Wulf's Flying Cello crash on landing?  #FredericDeWulf #SailingSeaWulf
Channel: Sailing SeaWulf
Date: 30/03/2020

Did we crash on landing?  Watch to find out.
This is a 'Making of' the original music video requested by you all.  

While in Turkey, Frederic De Wulf met Ferdi Toy, a world-renowned paragliding pilot, who agreed to take him flying with his cello above Babadağ Mountain.  This is one of the top paragliding spots in the world!  With additional collaboration and support from Kagan Aras, the project became a Turkish hit.  The meaning of the music is so appropriate to the pandemic mankind faces today.  

PLAYING THE CELLO AT 6,000 FEET
Frederic shared with Ferdi Toy he wanted to combine two of his favorite passions: flying and cello. Ferdi Toy said it could be done:  “Just bring your cello and we’ll figure it out.”  After some testing on the ground, they took off from Babadağ Mountain. It was the only flight out of thousands that year, to carry a cellist.  They flew over an hour to record the song.  

HONORING TURKEY
De Wulf wanted to honor Turkish culture by playing a song part of Turkey's soul.  Toy suggested "I Walk On A Long And Narrow Road” by Âşık Veysel, a famous Turkish minstrel from the early 1900s.  “Once in a while, special souls are dropped here and there on Earth." Aşık Veysel, the artist, was one of them. De Wulf hopes this project will help more people know about Veysel's inspiring music.  His lyrics speak to all mankind.  "Day and night, we are on a long and narrow road. Sometimes easy, sometimes hard, sometimes sad, sometimes happy… but always, we walk day and night, day and night… " 


TURKISH COLLABORATION
Frederic De Wulf shared the plans of the project with Kagan Aras, from Holident in Fethiye.   Aras helped De Wulf understand the significance of Veysel and the song.  He inspired Holident to sponsor the project to get it produced and exposed to the Turkish people.  “I was impressed by the ambitious project and Frederic’s passion for this famous Turkish song by Aşık Veysel. It was a great collaboration.”  

Ferdi Toy made the challenging take-off and landing look seamless.  He figured out how to safely attach the cello, bow, cameras, and equipment to the paraglider so nothing would fall out of the sky.

Gürsel and Nazender Süzer Gökçe, descendants of Asik Veysel, provided the beautiful photos of Veysel included in this video.

LANDING
“Looks like we are short”, Toy said on the final 50 feet of landing.  “I thought I was going to land on top of a restaurant table”  Ferdi shifted left and they both landed safely in the middle of a tourist street in Oludeniz.  Cello, microphones, cameras, cellist, and pilot on the ground with not a scratch, phew!

TAKING AN INSPIRED BREAK FROM THE WORLD CRISIS
“This was a perfect blending of two passions of mine: flying and playing the cello.  Honoring the Turkish people who have been gracious hosts to us for over 6 months, has made this project so worthwhile.  I hope it can provide relief from these stressful times.”