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A surprising call
In spring 2014 Hans and I received a phone call by Eric de Kruijk who said he is planning to make a small documentary about paragliding. A bit bewildered Hans asked who he was and how he got his telephone number. He is the director for the Klokhuis show and he did an internet search for paragliding pilots and soon found the ter Maat family. After realizing we were contacted by Klokhuis our enthusiasm grew rapidly. Let me tell you why; Klokhuis is an educational show and is viewed by around 400.000 teenagers and parent each day! Hans and I immediately saw the opportunity to educate families in the Netherlands about the truly amazing sport of paragliding. So we accepted his request.

Hard work
The day had come and it was perfect flying day. There was hardly any wind and the sun was shining brightly while we read the script for the fifth time. Armed with our gliders, tandem glider, extra go pro’s and sunscreen we went to the air strip where my uncle (Hans’ brother) Dick ter Maat was waiting for us with the winch. At 9 am we met with the camera crew, the director and the host of the show. After drinking some coffee and going through the script one more time it was time to set up the camera’s and get to work. The day was hot and the thermals were strong. Superb for flying! After 4 flights it was time for the interviews. Shot after shots we repeated the same thing over and over until the director was completely satisfied. I can tell you at 7 pm we were totally exhausted and smelled like hardworking man. When we enjoyed our well-deserved cold beer I asked how long this documentary is going to be. When the director told me 8 minutes and there will be another day of filming without us and another day editing, my jaw dropped and my appreciation for all the work you see on the television grew instantly. So many hours of work and for just 8 minutes of air time, that’s just amazing!

Our 8 minutes of fame…
Last Friday the show was on the Dutch television. It was funny to see ourselves on the Dutch television knowing thousands of people are watching the same thing. The documentary was just great. They explained everything so it was understandable for kids and just as interesting for their parents. Only correct information was told, so the Dutchies finally know: WE DON’T JUMP OF MOUNTAINS! Now they know this is for base jumpers and this is definitely not the same as paragliding.

New dreams come true
Hans and I hope we helped paragliding obtain even a better name and make people curious about this amazing sport. Perhaps some people will see this documentary and find themselves lucky to discover the same passion in paragliding as we did many years ago.

See the documentary for yourself. It is in Dutch however you probably understand a thing or two ;)

 

Cheers!
Hans and Chavert ter Maat

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