The secret of where Olivier came from...

This man is Pierre Aubert.
He had a kid, and that kid had a
kid, and that kid was named Olivier.
Olivier Aubert.
That makes him, well, umm, somehow related
 to Olivier. Something like a great uncle or
cousin-in-law or something.
 Maybe grandfather is what they call it.
 

Anyway, the story gets a lot more interesting, so read on...

To start at the end, Pierre died aged nearly 90 in his car while parked in his garage. He fell asleep and died of heart failure. It was an anticlimactic end to a life that had been colourful and exciting. For indeed, he had been the inventor of a lot of things that the regular folk would call "crazy."

Here he is sometime during WWII, in front of a bus, that may or may not
have been an inspiration for some of his inventions...

Here is the beginning of one of his "crazy" inventions in 1964. It has a tricycle undercarriage and is propeller-driven...

And here it is with a "kite" installed. A Rogallo-looking wing... (remember, this is 1964)

Here he is hurtling across a field, his 'sail' filled with air.
(There is no picture of the invention actually lifting off, but that doesn't mean it didn't happen....!)

His machine was built tough, just like the DTA trikes his grandson Olivier would someday fly. But alas, the delta wing was fixed and did not allow weight-shift control. However, Pierre had planted the seed that would become part of his grandson's destiny. It is truly special for a trike flyer such as Olivier to have such roots. Who else can claim such pedigree?
Also, grandfather Pierre was known to have been a hunter of the "filles de joies." He would be glad to know that his genes still run strong...

And that is the secret of where Olivier came from. Now you know.

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