There was a lot to be done if the Europeans were to make up for lost time. Even two more channel crossings in 1979 weren't enough. Gerry Breen and Len Gabriels, using Hiway Scorpion and Skyhook Bluebird powered Rogallos respectively, demonstrated the increasing reliability of powered hang-gliders, but they were still tricky to fly, as the wing mounting of the engine meant that the thrust line altered whenever the pitch was changed. Something better was needed if the safety of everyday pilots was to be assured - and that something was the trike.

Roland Magallon visited Jean-Marc Geiser and took a long look at the Motodelta. Plenty of people had allied pure weight-shift control to a wing-mounted engine; and here was hybrid control with a 'fuselage' - much more stable in flight, but rather complex and expensive. Why not combine the best of both worlds, by replacing the Motodelta's 'fuselage' with a simple tubular framework and dispensing with the rudder? That should produce a cheap, safe, flying machine.

It did indeed. Magallon is thus credited - rightly we think - with the invention of the trike, but as it was more a logical development than a flash of genius, it is quite possible that others who have failed to reach the record books had the same idea at the same time, or perhaps even earlier. But it was Magallon who produced and marketed it, Magallon who did for the trike what Henry Ford did for the motor car.

He called the first version 'Mosquito' and marketed it in October 1979, continuing with it until 1981. The prototype had flown with a McCulloch MC-101A motor of 125 cc, delivering 10 hp at 8000 rpm to a direct-drive prop with ground adjustable pitch. But soon he was offering it with a Solo 210 which produced around 12 hp at much less frantic revs.