For Spanish I didn't want to get on the trike--no way. A hang glider with an engine--not me . All I wanted to do was take some photos and interview Hans from the ground. Maybe get Marge to go up and write about it. She has more courage than I do. But Hans and Sherman, the two pilots, convinced me that it would be great fun, and there were thousands of happy customers before
"Ok," I said , with a little trepidation and a lot of fear. "But that chair there behind the driver's seat looks a little small for me."
Hans said, "If you weigh over 5000 pounds the plane can't handle you."
"Okkkaayy," I said as I crawled up into the seat . "Where do I hold on?" Hans seated himself in front of me. "The bars there," he pointed, "are for your feet and there for your hands." He handed me these large plastic ear covers and said they were for noise reduction from the engine. I put them on and said, "I can't hear anything--will we be able to talk?"
"Sure," he said "I'll be able to hear you." He started the engine and began to taxi out onto the airstrip--it was sort of like hitting the throttle with my Suzuki 250cc 20 years ago--the wind in my face, the road pushing under my feet, and an immediate awareness of elements of nature around me.
We rushed down the strip for less than 100 yards and left the ground on a trike that transformed into a sofa--all my fear was destroyed by fascination--everything else was left on the ground behind me. Nature had my attention. As Hans maneuvered through the air I could feel that he, the trike, and I were one .
I had taken trips on airliners before--lumbering and lumbering
for what seemed endless miles to get off the ground .And me, wondering if the
impossible was possible And me, reassuring myself with the statistics that I'd
make it.
Not so with the trike--I'm not sheltered from the wind, but become part of it.
The intricate melding of land and sea below me is me--for a moment I peek through
the eye of my reality and see the relationship below my flying feet.
Who are the people who make this remarkable enterprise go?
Hans and Mariella Kohlinger are both Dutch citizens, but they came here 12 years ago and fell in love with Mexico. They have spent the last 4 years living in a small town near Cuernavaca, but they come to Puerto Peñasco in October and November every year and again in April and May.
Hans is licensed to take people up on the flying trike. He
has a Mexican pilot's license, a permit from the Director General de Aviación
Civil (DGAC) to fly anywhere in Mexico, and an American FAA Instructor's license.
He is also certified by the Dutch and the French governments to fly. He's been
a member of the Dutch National Hang Gliding Team for 17 years.
Hans's clients are insured when they fly with him, but their best insurance
is his skill. He estimates that he has taken up 10,000 people and never had
an accident.
Before they came here, Hans and Mariella were living in Holland. He was manager of a beauty salon, and she had a public relations job. Hans taught hang-gliding in his spare time. They took a year off to travel, and they liked it so much that they gave up their jobs to do what they really wanted to do. Hans loves hang-gliding and enjoys watching his clients experience the joy he feels. I can vouch for that, as my fear turned to ecstasy when I went up with him. Mariella also flies, but only for her own enjoyment. She doesn't take clients aloft. Anyway, she's much too busy now with 10-month-old Julien, the couple's first child. He crawls energetically all over the place and soon will be walking. Probably in another year or two he'll be flying.
Hans and Mariella are very cosmopolitan. They both speak English fluently, in addition to Dutch, French, and Spanish. For rides on the Flying Trike. The service can be contacted at 011-52-638-40228 in the USA or locally at 044-638-40228
