We met for the first time Nicole and Daniel Guignet during the festival of kites Berck in 2009. They have a rather ambitious project of making man-lifting kite with Saconney that impressed us and seduced. We met again according to the festivals, and we spent a few days at their home in Charente Maritime, in May 2013.

We supply you the story of this couple human rising enthusiast: Nicole has the technical responsibility of sewing, Daniel, who is in charge of the design, manufacture frames. And both, accompanied by a team of kite flyers for risings.

"How are you fallen into the kite?"

Our daughter who was at the time a decade, had recovered in a children's paper, a small kite folding paper (Chiringa type) on a 21x27 sheet. After folding and two bridles, we had a small kite paper. But the paper tears quickly and it took again a kite for our daughter. A friend gave me a book with kite plans and in which there was a Thai owl that was self-stable with a single clamping point and a wingspan of about 50 cm. For flight we used a small fishing rod, a ring and a small fishing reel. Then we went to Royan for the “Rêve d’Icare” (Dream of Icarus), in 1992 or 93. It was a festival of air with airplanes, microlight, paratroopers and kites. In kite flyers present there was André Cassagnes, Guy Gerard, Claude Quintard, and some others. We spent all afternoon with them. And this is Guy Gerard, who sent us the virus and then I saw what we could do with a kite.

With this small kite and one or two others that I cobbled up, we participated in our first festival in Palavas. And then we really discovered the world of kite flyers. Later, we had the chance to meet Jack Rosiere, and we became friends. Jack collected everything that existed on the kite. And when I draw into his documentation I have discovered the use of the military climbing trains during the first war.

We had created an association, « Engoulevent » (Nighthawk), with Jean Philippe Toumire Pierre Cardineau Charles Bazin and our children. They jumped with their traction kites (kite jump) and we are doing the human ascension. We were a dozen, and according to wind conditions, there was or climb or jump.

Then the team is separated, each life ... either abroad or in other regions of France. We were alone, me and Nicole with the train of Saconney. Thereafter, we met a group of young from Toulouse and we relaunched man-liffting, but without an association. I was a member of Cerf-Volant Club de France (CVCF), a Kite Club of France, and they were part of « Voleurs du Vent », (Wind thieves), so we were insure for the practice kite.

Then Sylvie and Bruno joined the team. We have started to think about the association after the defection of young from Toulouse, to have insurance for the rising.

We created at the end of 2011 the «Trains Volants» association, (Flying Trains), whose purpose is :
"implement a train of kites" Saconney "type to raise an observer to revive a practice of man-lifting kites born before the First World War in an aerial observation purposes; ................ "

We are currently 13 members, some of which is very present during risings: Daniel (67 years, retired boilermaker welder), Nicole (64 years, retired nurse's aide) Bruno (52 years in the aircraft engine mechanic), Sylvie (50 years, Education Secretary), Frédérique (23 years, cabinetmaker), Bernard (54, delivery driver) and Didier (52 years, street theater actor).

Photos : Nicole, Sylvie, Bruno et Daniel

This new team is working on the future of the kite train. "For the moment we made the ascent with a fixed point during the festival. We have a climbing harness that attaches to the main cable. The next phase, certainly for 2014, this is a new nacelle with two additional kites to raise people, like what was happening at the time.
But we can not make the rising exactly like this epoch. Already because we have a polyester cord and I do not know how to slow down it, there is an automatic heating. In addition, with our system and the flying height allowed in France, we can not move the nacelle on the cable.
To can raise a person on a cable, the front kite should be at 2 km altitude and the person must be raise with very mild angle of the ground to the kite. When we look the photos of the time, the angle was about 10-15 ° to the ground. While we are at 80 °.

We will continue to make the ascent to the fixed point with two kites that are more just above the nacelle, who will be there to balance the weight of the nacelle and photos. Later, we will see if it is possible to make the ascent, rolling along the cable with a trolley. In 2014, we also thought about making ascents in period costumes. Didier who is part of the association, works in street theater and he knows addresses where we can provide rental equipment and clothing. With a friend costumier, we can find similar costumes and change them. See also among collectors. "