French Kiss - British Microlight Aircraft Association

Air Creation has been around since 1982 producing some 4000 wings and 2500 trikes since it
began. Based at Aubenas in Southern France it currently employs 27 people turning out new
machines at the rate of five per week. This productivity is at least double that of any company
in the UK.
The Kiss 400 weightshift microlight is a typical result of the pilot-focused, free-wheeling
design philosophy allowed by the French certification system to which UK importers Flylight
Airsports, run by Paul Dewhurst and Ben 'Doodlebug' Ashman, have added the probity of full
UK BCAR Section S certification. UK pilots can now buy and fly a genuinely different - and
possibly more advanced - flexwing aircraft... providing they don't mind building it first. More
about this later.
First impressions count and they are all good. Even the leaden skies of a bleak Northampton
November afternoon couldn't disguise the bright plumage of a small, complex but beautifully
cut wing sitting on top of an equally colourful metal and plastic trike.
And the wing is small: just 13 sq m of composite fabric lifts 400kg of man and machine in
dazzling style. At over 30kg/sq, the effective wing loading of the Kiss 400 blows away the old
25kg/sq m Section S definition of a microlight; it follows the new rules governed by stall
speed. The low speed characteristics of this two-seater pocket handkerchief were likely to be
interesting.
The other aspect which immediately impresses is the short wing keel. It is indeed so short
that the extended propeller arc misses the keel and trailing edge of the wing except for the
final metre or so at each wing tip. This allows the propeller to throw stones, cameras and lose
items of pilot/passenger equipment harmlessly upwards without slicing through a critical part
of the wing. If it were not for two seats and a meaty Rotax 582 high power engine behind, a
casual glance might mistake the machine for a Chaser S.
There are other touches to delight pilots like me who enjoy chucking a tent and sleeping bag
in the back of a trike to go touring for a few days. When not occupied by the rear passenger,
a U-frame folds up from within the seat area behind the pilot to create simultaneously a
comfortable back rest and a usefully large zippable luggage bag. The other delight is the
optional 60 litre fuel tank (as fitted to the review machine; standard fitment 38 litres) which will
tilt the balance of flight endurance towards the pilot's need to jettison previously drunk cups of
tea rather than the machine's need to take on more petrol.