French Kiss - British Microlight Aircraft Association

There is a serious point about fuel and cockpit loads which applies not only to the review
machine, but any fitted with tanks larger than the 50 litre maximum allowed under the old
regulations. Some voices will raise objection that the fitting of big tanks as standard
encourages people to fly overloaded machines. Using the example of the Kiss 400, a
combined pilot and passenger weight of 180kg leaves an allowable fuel volume of just 27
litres without exceeding the 400kg MTOW limit. The doubters say that pilots will inevitably fly
two-up and fuelled over the weight limit.
I would answer that decisions on cockpit load/fuel weight trade-offs affect every branch of
aviation and there is no reason as to why microlights should be made a special case for
concern. I personally do most of my flying one-up and all the more safely for having a
purpose-designed single tank of adequate capacity. Complicated multi-tank fuel
arrangements have caused serious problems for pilots in the past and it is my view - offered
with the benefit of 17 years experience flying flexwing microlights - that the new regulations
take flight safety forwards, not backwards.
We are quite aware that overloading is neither safe or sensible: heavy loads adversely affect
takeoff roll/climbout, particularly on soft grass strips, and primary flight characteristics -
especially in parts of the envelope towards the stall.
The Trike
The first - and lasting - impression is of design excellence. The beautifully moulded fairings
partially conceal a fairly simple tube and bolt structure in which the individual tube members
have been factory finished in a hard coat paint to match the mouldings. The single drum
brake arrangement on the sprung front wheel is the same adaption from a motor scooter as
currently fitted to Pegasus trikes.
The unbraked rear wheels inside finned spats - these assist lateral flight stability as well as
keeping flying stones away - are triangulated at the bottom of oleo suspension struts. They
subsequently proved themselves to be soft enough to adsorb the bumps of taxiing without the
rest of the machine wallowing around on over-soft suspension.
The main wing pylon folds forward for (de)rigging, hinged at the top of the seat frame in the
style of Pegasus Quasar trikes. This vastly improves design ergonomics over folding trike
arrangements. It allows installation of large, permanently installed fuel tanks, a favourable
trade between structural strength and weight and gets rid off that cow poo-collecting fabric
'skirt' at the rear of the pod which make old British trikes look so shabby.