So this will be the final update regarding racing.... Zips racing finished 12th overall at formula student Germany! A solid performance for our first year
We started the day on Saturday running Acceleration and Autocross. Keven and Logan drove acceleration. Our drivers drove the same time, putting us in 14th place! Solid performance.
Later that afternoon we set the car up for autocross. We planned to get our runs in before the rain. Michan ran the first lap and posted an average time of 58 seconds with 1 cone. He lined up to put the hammer down for his second run. About 15 seconds into the lap the car came to a hault! Schiezen... We pulled the car into the pits trying to diagnose the problem. It was a wiring issue, but unfortunately it took us about 1-2 hours to fix. We were the final car to go out in Autocross that afternoon, and it had just poured rain... This left us middle of the pack for our endurance run on Sunday.
Sunday we prepared the car for endurance. Checking every nut, bolt, connection. The car was ready to go, and we headed up to the line. We proved to be out of place in our endurance position because we were running about 6 seconds faster per lap. But hey, stuff happens. Our car was one of the fastest cars of the entire day. We ended up finished 9th place in Endurance, but the traffic really killed our time...
We chilled out the rest of the day waiting for the awards cermony later that evening.... Now that competition was over it was time to celebrate. We had a blast and were rewarded with Music, Beer, and free mugs! We danced until about 1am and then headed to the campsite for the ''after-party''
Monday morning we packed up our camping gear and headed to one of our sponsors facilities, LUK, for a tour! They welcomed us so gernously and head a great presentation prepared.
Later that evening, around 11:30pm, we arrived back in Munich where we crashed from exhaustion! We plan to tour Munich for the rest of the week. I was given a Fordors book before we left and it is proving to be a huge help! THANKS : )
Chao!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Time to compete!
Hey everyone!
So yesterday marked the first "official" day of competition. The team competed in 4 events... 3 of them were static, and the other was dynamic. Static events test our engineering and business mindsets. (The car is not racing for them.) And the dynamic events are pushing the car to the limits in different areas. I will give you a quick breakdown of our finishes and then go into more detail if you have time to read...
Design - 33rd
Cost - 14th
Marketing Presentation - 28th
Skid-Pad - 18th
I actually competed in all the static events yesterday so I'll try to give you the best personal recap of them. First we headed to our Design event where about 6-8 engineers from Germany go over our car with a fine tooth comb. This event lasts 1-hour and is worth 150 points. The judges ask each engineer on our team questions like: A.) Why do you run these Goodyear tires instead of Hoosiers? B.) Show me calculations of your suspension system. C.) Explain your choice of engine.... Etc. The questions get harder as the time goes on. I was incharge of the Brake Design system and Driver Ergonomics. A couple questions I was asked were: 1.) What adjustments do you offer in your cockpit (Pedals, seat, brake bias). 2.) Why did you choose this rotor material? Overall the event went well, but we are a young team and our knowledge is still growing. We placed 33rd in this event out of 73.
Our second event was the Cost event. For this event we construct a 200 page excel document which is used to calculate the cost of every component. From the Shocks all the way to the smallest zip tie. I have actually competed in this event since I was a freshman. (hence why I am bald now...) This was our best static event, we placed 14th out of 75.
Lastly we competed in the presentation event. This event is actually really fun. Maddy & and I provide a 10 minute mock marketing presentation for our car. The overall goal is to market the car & produce ~1000 per year. We calculated all the production costs, return on investments, etc. We were hoping to do a lot better in this event, but we ran in to a few problems. One particularly was our "slide-clicker" stopped working before our presentation : ( Overall we were ranked 28th.
Finally we competed in the Skid-Pad event for the first dynamic event. Logan and Kevin drove this. It tests the cars steady-state turning capabilities. They are both young drivers, but are proving to become comfortable in the car! The placed 18th in this event, which was really good!
This afternoon we competed in Autocross, but ran into problems. I will explain more in tomorrow's post when all events are completed and scored.
Have a great night!
So yesterday marked the first "official" day of competition. The team competed in 4 events... 3 of them were static, and the other was dynamic. Static events test our engineering and business mindsets. (The car is not racing for them.) And the dynamic events are pushing the car to the limits in different areas. I will give you a quick breakdown of our finishes and then go into more detail if you have time to read...
Design - 33rd
Cost - 14th
Marketing Presentation - 28th
Skid-Pad - 18th
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| Team Photo FSG 2011 |
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| 5 Akron Engineers - 7 German Design Judges |
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| Preparing For Design |
Our second event was the Cost event. For this event we construct a 200 page excel document which is used to calculate the cost of every component. From the Shocks all the way to the smallest zip tie. I have actually competed in this event since I was a freshman. (hence why I am bald now...) This was our best static event, we placed 14th out of 75.
Lastly we competed in the presentation event. This event is actually really fun. Maddy & and I provide a 10 minute mock marketing presentation for our car. The overall goal is to market the car & produce ~1000 per year. We calculated all the production costs, return on investments, etc. We were hoping to do a lot better in this event, but we ran in to a few problems. One particularly was our "slide-clicker" stopped working before our presentation : ( Overall we were ranked 28th.
Finally we competed in the Skid-Pad event for the first dynamic event. Logan and Kevin drove this. It tests the cars steady-state turning capabilities. They are both young drivers, but are proving to become comfortable in the car! The placed 18th in this event, which was really good!
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| RIT running Skid-Pad in the "WET" |
Have a great night!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Fuel to Noise
One of the biggest challenges at competition so far is getting up on time in the morning. We have limited access to "alarm-clocks" on the campsite and 6:45a.m. comes around pretty early. So you might ask, "how do you do get up in the morning?"...
...Thats a great question. Our friends from Munich have invented a patented "Fuel-to-Noise" machine, which solves this tremendous problem. The fuel to noise machine is an old chainsaw with no blade, and hardly any muffler. The intended use of this machine is to wake up sleepy Germans. So when someone will not wake up a fellow team member starts the machine at full throttle, places it in their tent, and zips the tent back up. Believe it or not this does this trick, everytime!
Anyway now for the part you all have been waiting for....The update of the day. ya right! Today we had our technical inspection. For those who don't know this is an event where engineers scan your car for about an hour for defects or possible failure modes. It is actually a strenuous process. We build these racecars to a set of rules, but everyone has their own interpretation of the rules. Creativity usually means success! In the hour you have it can be stressful! Luckily the ZR-11 has entered two competitions now so the process wasn't too bad. Only a few minor things we overlooked, which we were able to fix immediately. Tomorrow's outlook is all the static events; Cost, Marketing, and Design. As well as skidpad. Thats all for now.
Chao!
Benny D
...Thats a great question. Our friends from Munich have invented a patented "Fuel-to-Noise" machine, which solves this tremendous problem. The fuel to noise machine is an old chainsaw with no blade, and hardly any muffler. The intended use of this machine is to wake up sleepy Germans. So when someone will not wake up a fellow team member starts the machine at full throttle, places it in their tent, and zips the tent back up. Believe it or not this does this trick, everytime!
Anyway now for the part you all have been waiting for....The update of the day. ya right! Today we had our technical inspection. For those who don't know this is an event where engineers scan your car for about an hour for defects or possible failure modes. It is actually a strenuous process. We build these racecars to a set of rules, but everyone has their own interpretation of the rules. Creativity usually means success! In the hour you have it can be stressful! Luckily the ZR-11 has entered two competitions now so the process wasn't too bad. Only a few minor things we overlooked, which we were able to fix immediately. Tomorrow's outlook is all the static events; Cost, Marketing, and Design. As well as skidpad. Thats all for now.
Chao!
Benny D
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Livin' up to the hype!
Hey All!
First off, I hope you're enjoying this blog!? Below check out the team celebration photo from Austria...
So far Germany has lived up to the hype. I'm going to type as fast as I can because my battery is about ready to die. Anyway, Germany is pretty awesome. They are so efficient here. Everything seems to be organized. From the roadways, food centers, to the racetracks. you can quote me on this: "the people have a clue!"
Last night we arrived at Hockenheim speedway. Set up our camp and paddock. Everything went smoothly. Unfortunately we have a high number in the tech order so we will not be inspected until Thursday morning. This is ok though because we will not start ANY events until Friday. This is different from the states. So today we mostly checked over the car, ate food, and chilled out. Tonight we will hang again with the Germanys! Such a good time.
So for now thats all I really have....
PROST!
---BennY!
First off, I hope you're enjoying this blog!? Below check out the team celebration photo from Austria...
So far Germany has lived up to the hype. I'm going to type as fast as I can because my battery is about ready to die. Anyway, Germany is pretty awesome. They are so efficient here. Everything seems to be organized. From the roadways, food centers, to the racetracks. you can quote me on this: "the people have a clue!"
Last night we arrived at Hockenheim speedway. Set up our camp and paddock. Everything went smoothly. Unfortunately we have a high number in the tech order so we will not be inspected until Thursday morning. This is ok though because we will not start ANY events until Friday. This is different from the states. So today we mostly checked over the car, ate food, and chilled out. Tonight we will hang again with the Germanys! Such a good time.
So for now thats all I really have....
PROST!
---BennY!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Navigation Nightmare
Well one problem we have run into while in Europe is navigation.... Unfortunately our team forgot to bring a GPS so we have been relying heavily on our German friends for assistance in traveling. This proved to be a head-ache this morning as we prepared to depart for Hockenhiem, Germany
For now we are all expected to arrive at the Hockenhiemring later this evening. I'm not too sure how much internet access we will have so thats why I wanted to give an update this morning. Here is a brief schedule for the week:
Wednesday - Tech Inspection
Thursday - Static Events (Design, Cost, Presentation)
Friday - Skidpad
Saturday - Acceleration and Autocross
Sunday - Endurance and awards ceremony
You can also access the Formula Student Germany website for results, updates, etc.
Prost!
For now we are all expected to arrive at the Hockenhiemring later this evening. I'm not too sure how much internet access we will have so thats why I wanted to give an update this morning. Here is a brief schedule for the week:
Wednesday - Tech Inspection
Thursday - Static Events (Design, Cost, Presentation)
Friday - Skidpad
Saturday - Acceleration and Autocross
Sunday - Endurance and awards ceremony
You can also access the Formula Student Germany website for results, updates, etc.
Prost!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Start your engines!
So we are finally back in Munich, but I wanted to give a re-cap of the last day in Austria.
Saturday afternoon we prepared the car for the endurance race. Checked all fasteners, fluids, etc. Everything looked to be great, so shortly after lunch we pushed the car up to the track. Dustin nestled into the cockpit and was strapped down for the ride. Right out of the gate he set some very fast lap times. Its the Goodyear tires! They seem to come up to temperature faster than the competing tires. Anyway a few laps into the endurance race the car came to a halt. We ran into more drive-train problems. A half shaft separated from its housing and the wheel would no longer turn. For those who don't know..... in these competitions once the endurance race starts we are NOT allowed to work on our cars if they break. So what that meant for us is we were done with that portion of the competition. Another bad thing that comes with not finishing endurance is we missed out on crucial points. No worries though about 60% of the competition field usually does not finish the grueling endurance event.
After pushing the car into the pits we watched the rest of the races and packed up our box van. After packing we cleaned up for the awards ceremony. This was a treat! The awards ceremony in the European competitions are treated with so much respect. There was music, light shows, beer, and a dinner! We placed 15th among the competition. Around 11pm the awards wrapped up and we headed to the campsite where the promoters of the event prepared an after party for us. There was portable stage trailed in which had a light-show, DJ, and more beer. These Germans love their beer haha.
The following morning we piled into the vans and headed back to Munich, and thats where I sit now writing this! So I'm going to get some sleep : )
Good night!
Saturday afternoon we prepared the car for the endurance race. Checked all fasteners, fluids, etc. Everything looked to be great, so shortly after lunch we pushed the car up to the track. Dustin nestled into the cockpit and was strapped down for the ride. Right out of the gate he set some very fast lap times. Its the Goodyear tires! They seem to come up to temperature faster than the competing tires. Anyway a few laps into the endurance race the car came to a halt. We ran into more drive-train problems. A half shaft separated from its housing and the wheel would no longer turn. For those who don't know..... in these competitions once the endurance race starts we are NOT allowed to work on our cars if they break. So what that meant for us is we were done with that portion of the competition. Another bad thing that comes with not finishing endurance is we missed out on crucial points. No worries though about 60% of the competition field usually does not finish the grueling endurance event.
After pushing the car into the pits we watched the rest of the races and packed up our box van. After packing we cleaned up for the awards ceremony. This was a treat! The awards ceremony in the European competitions are treated with so much respect. There was music, light shows, beer, and a dinner! We placed 15th among the competition. Around 11pm the awards wrapped up and we headed to the campsite where the promoters of the event prepared an after party for us. There was portable stage trailed in which had a light-show, DJ, and more beer. These Germans love their beer haha.
The following morning we piled into the vans and headed back to Munich, and thats where I sit now writing this! So I'm going to get some sleep : )
Good night!
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Wired on Red-Bull
So most of you know we are currently competing in Austria at the newly finished "Red Bull Ring". Check out the link in my post below. Anyway it is a beautiful facility, and the best part is we get FREEEEEEE Red Bull the entire week. Back in the states this cost's nearly $3.00 per can... So as you'd imagine we are taking our full dose of the free caffeine. Below is a picture of our car with a free case!
The experience in Austria has been awesome so far, and with only 24 hours left here I don’t think my thoughts will change. We have completed all the static events and are most of the dynamics event. All results for the statics have been posted but aren’t official:
Cost – 6th place
Marketing Presentation – 15th place
Design – 18th place
We are currently waiting to run the endurance event. We ran well in autocross and will head to the track immediately after lunch today. This would be ~7am Ohio time. No official results have been posted for Acceleration, Skid Pad, or Autocross.
Lastly, I wanted to give you a “behind the scenes” tour of what we have experienced so far. We have been camping the past 4 nights with our German Friends. (~30 Germans and 10 Americans. They have a large tent and we have been cooking all our meals there. AMAZING food. Barbecue, Beef Stroganoff, Spatzles, and so much more. They have amazing beer from a brewery called Augustiner… The myths are true, German beer is 10 times better than ours. The Picture below isn't the greatest, but it is beef stroganoff, homemade bread, and a cold brew!
Inside the racing facilty we have been carrying our flag around proudly alongside our American friends from RIT. See the picture below. We have a great view of the Alps and the engines really scream in this valley. As I said above all the red bull is free. That’s about all I’ve got… RACING, REDBULL, & CAMPING. What more could a guy ask for?
Love
Benny!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Journey through Germany
Hey Yall!
Not too much time to update, but I'll type till my fingers are numb....
Yesterday departed early morning for the Austria competition. Approx 8:30am. The drive was really amazing. I'll put a picture below, but it won't describe the beauty of the mountains. About 5 hours later we arrived at Red Bull Ring.
We quickly unloaded our box truck and began setting up our paddock and camp. We were the second team to attempt tech judging, but didn't have enough time to finish last night... So we packed up the paddock and headed out to the campsites for fesitivies.
Today we woke up at 6:45. (Not too pleasant...) Anyway by 8:00am they began tech again. At 8:30 Maddy and I headed to presentation event. It went well, but one thing is for sure...The German's/Austrian's expect nothing but your A-game!
At 11:30 we prepared the car for the cost event. Surprisingly we have one of the less expensive car's here. The German's are known for their crafty composite work, which is very pricey.
Lastly, at 2:30pm we headed to one of the most challenging events. Design. We seemed to hold our own definding our design, but the results have not been posted yet for any of the events.
All-in-All it has been a great two days so far. Fast Paced, but fun. We look forward to starting the engines tomorrow and heading onto the track. Logan, Kevin, and Dustin will be suiting up for us and driving: Acceleration, Skid-Pad, and Autocross. If I can ill post some results....
Anyway getting ready to head out to the campsite for another fun night.
Cheers! or Prost in German.
Not too much time to update, but I'll type till my fingers are numb....
Yesterday departed early morning for the Austria competition. Approx 8:30am. The drive was really amazing. I'll put a picture below, but it won't describe the beauty of the mountains. About 5 hours later we arrived at Red Bull Ring.
We quickly unloaded our box truck and began setting up our paddock and camp. We were the second team to attempt tech judging, but didn't have enough time to finish last night... So we packed up the paddock and headed out to the campsites for fesitivies.
Today we woke up at 6:45. (Not too pleasant...) Anyway by 8:00am they began tech again. At 8:30 Maddy and I headed to presentation event. It went well, but one thing is for sure...The German's/Austrian's expect nothing but your A-game!
At 11:30 we prepared the car for the cost event. Surprisingly we have one of the less expensive car's here. The German's are known for their crafty composite work, which is very pricey.
Lastly, at 2:30pm we headed to one of the most challenging events. Design. We seemed to hold our own definding our design, but the results have not been posted yet for any of the events.
All-in-All it has been a great two days so far. Fast Paced, but fun. We look forward to starting the engines tomorrow and heading onto the track. Logan, Kevin, and Dustin will be suiting up for us and driving: Acceleration, Skid-Pad, and Autocross. If I can ill post some results....
Anyway getting ready to head out to the campsite for another fun night.
Cheers! or Prost in German.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Practice...Practice...Practice!
Until the late hours of the evening we laid rubber down on the Audi test track with our friends from TU Fast Racing. Our car is proving to be a threat as we continue to record competitive lap times. We feel very lucky to have the opportunity to test before the competitions. Racing is in the forecast for tomorrow. Below see a picture of the ZR-11 as we finished our final day of testing.
After testing we went to a really authentic Italian restaurant. I had Pesto and a glass of Lambrusco, two of my favorites. After dinner we were all able to get a full nights rest. It felt amazing. Today is a pretty relaxed day since we are only cleaning and packing the car for our first competition in Speilberg, Austria.
Well anyway I’m going to continue practicing our marketing presentation for the remainder of the day. Tomorrow morning at 8am we hit the winding roads to Austria. I’ll start posting pictures of Munich and the Alps on Facebook soon.
Monday, July 25, 2011
The City Scene
T-minus 3 days. Yesterday our team worked hard to get the ZR-11 back on its feet and running. The process of grooving the new axles took longer than expected, but we are all happy this failure occurred before competition.
Around 8pm we all took a break from the shop and headed to the finest part of Munich for dinner. This part of the city was beautiful, and the architecture was amazing. (Below see a picture on the square in Munich with our German Friends)
After dinner we continued to work on the racecar late into the night. Around 4:00AM we buttoned everything up and finally headed to bed. Three hours later we rose to test the ZR-11. As expected, the closer we get to competition the more on edge we all are, but the clock is ticking! Enough for today...
Take care!
--Benny!
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Opa!
Well the past 24hours certainly have been interesting. Shortly after I updated my blog yesterday we ran into a pretty large failure with the car. Here’s a watered down version of what happened:
“The team was getting ready to practice Skid-Pad, an event at competition Right as they launched the car it made a “popppp” sound. Shortly after that we noticed the left rear axle had failed. To this point we are still unsure what exactly caused the failure. Luckily we have packed spare axles, but unfortunately we will have to finish machining it before it can be used on the racecar. “
By the time our waiter divvied our checks its was already 11:30pm. Yawn! But Germany the night had just begun. So we sat at a dinner table for 15 minutes trying to understand the “game plan” our German friends were scheming. This has been the hardest transition thus far. Part way through a conversation our friends well change their language and we are immediately lost. Anyway before I get too far off topic you can imagine what we did next… headed back to the university for a long night of board games: Monopoly, scrabble, Catch Phrase, ect… Cough. Cough. Cough.
Thats all for now!
--Benny!
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Jet laggin!
Guten Morgen!
Actually it is afternoon here, but I'm guessing it is about 8am in the States. Our team rose early this morning to finish assembling the car and head to the private Audi test track. (Located near the Munich Airport). We ran into a few minor problems, but the car seems to be running pretty sound. This is surprising since we haven't seen the car since early June.
At lunch time Maddy headed back to the University to practice our marketing presentation. So here I sit writing this blog and the title of it says it all.... Tired! We are all feeling the Jet lag, but we know this testing time is crucial.
The weather has been pretty crappy. Ran mostly, with bits and pieces of sun. Our team isn't complaining though. Ran testing is very important. The countdown has begun. T-minus 4 days until we head to Austria for the first competition. We have plans to relax this evening, and drink some Augustiner beer. Augustiner is a famous brewery in Munich. Very tasty!
Anyway I must go now. Practice. Practice. Practice!
Love BennY
Actually it is afternoon here, but I'm guessing it is about 8am in the States. Our team rose early this morning to finish assembling the car and head to the private Audi test track. (Located near the Munich Airport). We ran into a few minor problems, but the car seems to be running pretty sound. This is surprising since we haven't seen the car since early June.
At lunch time Maddy headed back to the University to practice our marketing presentation. So here I sit writing this blog and the title of it says it all.... Tired! We are all feeling the Jet lag, but we know this testing time is crucial.
The weather has been pretty crappy. Ran mostly, with bits and pieces of sun. Our team isn't complaining though. Ran testing is very important. The countdown has begun. T-minus 4 days until we head to Austria for the first competition. We have plans to relax this evening, and drink some Augustiner beer. Augustiner is a famous brewery in Munich. Very tasty!
Anyway I must go now. Practice. Practice. Practice!
Love BennY
Friday, July 22, 2011
On Your Mark..... Get Set... GO!
Hey Everyone!
First off, we made it to Germany safely. One word so far, amazing. We've only been here about an hour and already drove on the Autobahn.... 125MPH. (Sorry mom)
The flight was not too bad and our German friends from The University of Munich were waiting for us at the terminal. Four of my teamates headed northwest to LUK, Buhl to pick up our rental truck and racecar. The rest of us are hanging out on Munich's campus for the remainder of the day.
Another cool perk of being in Germany is they sell beer on campus. Hmmm...to think the German Engineers are some of the brightest in the world? You can connect the dots....
Anyway thats all for now. Talk soon.
--Love Benny
Friday, May 27, 2011
Disaster & Devistation are Among us! Dig-in to serve the ones in need!
Good Morning Friends!
I want you all to pause momentarily, close your eye and relax for 5 seconds. Now that you have opened your eyes look around the room what do you see? Everything is the same, calm, and unchanged. Now imagine doing that again, but when you re-open your eyes there is nothing to be found. No walls around you, no roof over your head, and all your possessions scattered in a 1 mile radius.
I remember being about 8 years old and playing with LEGO's almost about everyday. I'd build car's, little cities, fort's, etc. As soon as I was done playing I'd ram my fist into the buildings and topple the entire city in a matter of seconds!
Next weekend I'm organizing a trip to Joplin Missouri to serve people in need. I will be leaving Thursday June 2nd around 6pm and returning Sunday June 5th around 11pm-Midnight. My plan is to get down there early Friday morning and work all day. After a hard days work, get rest and do it all over again on Saturday. Sunday morning I plan on heading to a local church before our return home. I have been in contact with a few churches trying to find shelter while we stay there.
The intent behind this trip is to love, impact, and serve those families in need. I know this trip is last minute, but please keep our fellow Americans in your hearts. At a moments notice disaster can occur and we may be called to respond!
"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."
--Love Benny!
I want you all to pause momentarily, close your eye and relax for 5 seconds. Now that you have opened your eyes look around the room what do you see? Everything is the same, calm, and unchanged. Now imagine doing that again, but when you re-open your eyes there is nothing to be found. No walls around you, no roof over your head, and all your possessions scattered in a 1 mile radius.
I remember being about 8 years old and playing with LEGO's almost about everyday. I'd build car's, little cities, fort's, etc. As soon as I was done playing I'd ram my fist into the buildings and topple the entire city in a matter of seconds!
Next weekend I'm organizing a trip to Joplin Missouri to serve people in need. I will be leaving Thursday June 2nd around 6pm and returning Sunday June 5th around 11pm-Midnight. My plan is to get down there early Friday morning and work all day. After a hard days work, get rest and do it all over again on Saturday. Sunday morning I plan on heading to a local church before our return home. I have been in contact with a few churches trying to find shelter while we stay there.
The intent behind this trip is to love, impact, and serve those families in need. I know this trip is last minute, but please keep our fellow Americans in your hearts. At a moments notice disaster can occur and we may be called to respond!
"Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy."
--Love Benny!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Heading Home!
Good Morning Everyone! Or should I say 'Bon-Jou!" in Creole.
Well we made it back to the states safely last night. We are currently sitting on an airplane in Miami. I was a bit bummed that I couldn't update my blog while in Haiti, but wifi access was very scarce! Our trip was amazing. So many new experiences and adventures. When I get back in Akron I'll make sure to give a detailed update. Just a quick update though... We all had a great week, no one got sick. We built 11 houses. It was a great feeling after we finished each one. The families usually looked at us and said "God Bless You!" I have so many stories and pictures to share. You all will here from me soon. Have a great Sunday everyone : )
Well we made it back to the states safely last night. We are currently sitting on an airplane in Miami. I was a bit bummed that I couldn't update my blog while in Haiti, but wifi access was very scarce! Our trip was amazing. So many new experiences and adventures. When I get back in Akron I'll make sure to give a detailed update. Just a quick update though... We all had a great week, no one got sick. We built 11 houses. It was a great feeling after we finished each one. The families usually looked at us and said "God Bless You!" I have so many stories and pictures to share. You all will here from me soon. Have a great Sunday everyone : )
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Prepare for Take-Off
Good morning everyone!
After an Interesting overnight in Miami last night we are finally preparing for take off to Haiti! I am updating this from my iPhone on the plane. We are just preparing for takeoff so this will be a short post. Everything has gone smoothly thus far. We have really been pumping the water into our systems preparing for the extreme heat once we land.
Miami airport was a bit crazy, but hey that's part of the journey! Anyway Im not too sure how much I am going to be updating but stay tuned.... The group says hi to everyone and we are sending our Love to out friends and families back home!
---Benny D
After an Interesting overnight in Miami last night we are finally preparing for take off to Haiti! I am updating this from my iPhone on the plane. We are just preparing for takeoff so this will be a short post. Everything has gone smoothly thus far. We have really been pumping the water into our systems preparing for the extreme heat once we land.
Miami airport was a bit crazy, but hey that's part of the journey! Anyway Im not too sure how much I am going to be updating but stay tuned.... The group says hi to everyone and we are sending our Love to out friends and families back home!
---Benny D
Thursday, March 10, 2011
1 - More - Day!
Hey Everyone!
Its so hard to believe our journey will begin tomorrow.
Last night we packed our bags...It took us ~3 hours to pack for all the donated 'goods'! We had so many donations from different groups and families, Thank you all so much. Just to give you a mental picture we will each have 3 bags. 1 Carry on and 2 fifty pound stow-away's. Kim Conrad, our group leader, contacted American Airlines and are able to pack-away two bags with no charge. When we were packing last night we literally had a home-scale and weighed each bag. The lightest was about 42 pounds and the heaviest was 49.5 pounds. Donations ranged from: Blankets, Sewing Machine, Tools, Kids Supplies, Clothing, Medical Supplies, Books/Journals, Money, Hygiene Supplies, and much-much more! My heart also goes out to a local girl scout troup who helped us tremendously. For the past 3 months they have been raising money, collecting donations, and making "Fleece-Tie-Blankets" I can't say it enough, but thank you to my family, friends, and colleagues for all your kind donations which helped make this trip possible : )
So anyway, 8:30am we will hop in two vehicles and drive up to Detroit to catch our 3-P.M. flight. From there we will fly to Miami and stay overnight. At 7:45-A.M. we will catch an early flight directly to Port-Au-Prince Haiti. We will be picked up and transported to Grand-Guave, Haiti. That is where we will be staying.
That's all I really have this afternoon. Need to spend some time today looking over my carry on and packing some extra snacks! (Thin-Mint Cookies) my favorite.
Have a great afternoon,
-Benny D
Its so hard to believe our journey will begin tomorrow.
Last night we packed our bags...It took us ~3 hours to pack for all the donated 'goods'! We had so many donations from different groups and families, Thank you all so much. Just to give you a mental picture we will each have 3 bags. 1 Carry on and 2 fifty pound stow-away's. Kim Conrad, our group leader, contacted American Airlines and are able to pack-away two bags with no charge. When we were packing last night we literally had a home-scale and weighed each bag. The lightest was about 42 pounds and the heaviest was 49.5 pounds. Donations ranged from: Blankets, Sewing Machine, Tools, Kids Supplies, Clothing, Medical Supplies, Books/Journals, Money, Hygiene Supplies, and much-much more! My heart also goes out to a local girl scout troup who helped us tremendously. For the past 3 months they have been raising money, collecting donations, and making "Fleece-Tie-Blankets" I can't say it enough, but thank you to my family, friends, and colleagues for all your kind donations which helped make this trip possible : )
So anyway, 8:30am we will hop in two vehicles and drive up to Detroit to catch our 3-P.M. flight. From there we will fly to Miami and stay overnight. At 7:45-A.M. we will catch an early flight directly to Port-Au-Prince Haiti. We will be picked up and transported to Grand-Guave, Haiti. That is where we will be staying.
That's all I really have this afternoon. Need to spend some time today looking over my carry on and packing some extra snacks! (Thin-Mint Cookies) my favorite.
Have a great afternoon,
-Benny D
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
First 2011 Update!
The new year feels like it has come and gone, and its only February!? It's been such a crazy couple of months for me, but everything is going well. For those of you who follow my blog I am going to work on updating it more frequently now.
As of 2 weeks ago we booked our plane tickets for Haiti. The airfare prices seemed to sky rocket after the new year...Uggh what a bummer that was : ( For those who don't know we have rescheduled our trip to Mid-March. (11th-20th). That is our spring break, but I am really looking forward to contributing to those in need! I'll make sure to provide some team information as we get closer.
Another exciting area of my life (outside school, work, church, girlfriend) is the raceteam. We have been cruising right along with the new car for 2011. I am incharge of designing the Brake System and everything is coming together. We will be competing in 3 competions this summer.
2011 has been an awesome year thus far. Some amazing things and people have impacted my life the past 12 months and I'm very excited to see what the near and distant future hold!
God Bless,
Benny D!
As of 2 weeks ago we booked our plane tickets for Haiti. The airfare prices seemed to sky rocket after the new year...Uggh what a bummer that was : ( For those who don't know we have rescheduled our trip to Mid-March. (11th-20th). That is our spring break, but I am really looking forward to contributing to those in need! I'll make sure to provide some team information as we get closer.
Another exciting area of my life (outside school, work, church, girlfriend) is the raceteam. We have been cruising right along with the new car for 2011. I am incharge of designing the Brake System and everything is coming together. We will be competing in 3 competions this summer.
- The SAE World competition in May. 120 schools from around the country. Ohio State, Texas, MIT, Michigan are examples of some bigger schools we compete against.
- We will also be competing overseas in Germany!! For 1 month!!!I'm so excited for that. This competition starts August 2nd. It is the first trip there in our school's history. Feels pretty awesome to be apart of this. http://www.formulastudent.de/
- While we are in Germany we plan to travel over to Austria for a week. Their competition is the week following the Germany Competition. Not too sure on how many teams will be competition. I am just excited to embark on this adventure with a awesome group of Guys and Girls.
2011 has been an awesome year thus far. Some amazing things and people have impacted my life the past 12 months and I'm very excited to see what the near and distant future hold!
God Bless,
Benny D!
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