Cerf-Volant

In 1910 tensions were rising throughout Europe and many changes were underway to do with the Military. The 'armee de l'air' was created in 1909 and.part of their advancement was in the field of observation. Balloons were already in use and became bigger and bigger. Somebody had the idea of furthering colonel Cody's ( yes Buffalo Bill) development of the French invention of the tethered kite. Capable of lifting one person in a lightweight basket, the kite could be erected much faster than the observation balloon which had to be inflated. A dangerous job but an ideal addition to Demiel's military camp!:





mikey

Aother interesting innovative scenic feature....

I had to look up the history just in case you were kidding but indeed the French did use big box kites for aeriel photography and reconnaissance. Something else I didn't know.

You need some enemy soldiers now to be spied upon....or maybe they've spotted a couple of female Zouaves....

Mikey, you never cease to amaze me with your innovations - like Carl, i found myself searching for evidence that you haven't just been nipping at the Pernod again! And i came up with this - a sequence of postcards showing photos taken from just this very kind of platform!

http://www.cparama.com/forum/photographie-aerienne-par-cerf-volant-t3300.html

Fantastic!

And here's another very interesting postcard, from 1908:
http://www.retro-photo.fr/cartes-postales-anciennes/cpa,aviation-aerostation,150-grandes-manoeuvres-du-centre-1908--ballon-cerf-vola,11052.html

Looks like they used balloons quite a bit too, but here is the picture i was looking for...

No he's definately been nipping at the Pernod

How else could he keep coming up with these creative ideas?

Mind you Tram47 (Daniel et Genevieve) put us both off Pastis by telling us about the production methods

Thanks for the comments chaps! Doing the research for these projects is always an education. Going up in a basket suspended from a kite must have took a lot of bottle!!
As soon as i can find a length of metal that is thinner but stays rigid I think the model will look more believable;
Clive, I'm glad i didnt find that postcard! Making all those kites would put me off!!

mikey

How about siting it in amongst that shrub?

Doh! Why didn't I think of that? Great idea Clive I'll try it tomorrow!

mikey