Flying high in Italy

By Frances MacKinnon

fly products

I am not what you’d call an adrenalin junkie. I haven’t bungee-jumped or heli-skied or leapt out of an airplane. On the other hand, I’m no chicken. Fortunately or not – depending on the assignment – my job as a TV producer tends to take me way off the beaten path into the arms and contraptions of some of the most unusual, fascinating people you’d ever care to meet.

Which is how I came to be walking across a farmer's field in Grottammare in the Marches region of Italy (the calf of the boot) to meet Enrico Vignini, owner and inventor of a flying trike. Remember when ET flew across the moon? Like that.

Enrico is the soft-spoken fortyish owner of the family-run company Fly Products, which builds these extreme toys that are part of a new adventure sport gaining buzz around the world. A flying trike sounded right up my alley – enough to make your heart beat a little faster but not enough where you feel the need to leave emergency contacts or update your will first.

It looks as strange as it sounds (like a dune buggy mixed with a paraglider). A large wing is hooked up to the back of a specially designed motorized trike with a propeller. After some painstaking flight preparation, Enrico ordered me to “sit, sit” in front of him on what seemed a lot like one of those fancy baby-jogger strollers. He checked what I nervously thought were way-too-flimsy straps and pulled the rip cord. This was the moment of truth. The trike shot forward, and within four seconds, our wheels were off the ground.

I screamed.

Enrico chuckled.

Sixty seconds and 500 vertical feet later, it was equal parts exhilarating and tranquil. Enrico explained to me that while the motor got us off the ground, it was the wing that kept us up. We floated above the fields and rustic villas and over the waves of the azure sea. People craned their necks and waved. At one point, we even flew alongside a white horse and its rider galloping on the beach. On the Adriatic coast, Grottammare is pretty special from ground level, but from the air, it is nothing short of brilliant.

After an hour of trike-flying, I started to miss my old life on the ground. I gave Enrico the signal and we headed in for a landing – something that hadn’t occurred to me might be tricky. I needn’t have worried. Touchdown was just as smooth as takeoff.

As I walked away grinning and feeling slightly light-headed, I couldn’t help but be a little smug. Finding those safe-yet-risky activities isn’t easy. Sometimes you have to go to Italy to discover them.

(Frances MacKinnon is a producer for Daily Planet on Discovery Channel Canada. She lives in Toronto.)

Useful Information

Stay at the family-run, design-savvy Hotel Roma in Grottammare, with a view of the ocean and the mountains and a Mediterranean-chic decor.

We have daily non-stop service to Rome from Montreal this summer and year-round daily service from Toronto, with great connections to other Italian cities. Book now. Plus check out our deals on hotel rooms and car rentals.

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