"RobertR237" wrote in message Wow, in the total scheme of things, how
many planes are hit by lightning? If you are that leary of flying and
lightning, I would suggest you stay on the ground.

Turning a propeller near the freezing level is a sure way to get struck. I
took 3 hits in one year (that I know of). For two of them, I wasn't even in
the clouds. I was deviating around CBs. One hit knocked both generators
off-line. They re-set fine, so it only cost $5000 for a gearbox teardown and
inspection. One hit to another crew put a dime sized hole in one prop blade.
They weren't in the clouds and didn't know they had been struck until the
post-flight walk-around. That cost $27k because you can't replace just one
blade.

The aerodynamics of some of the fast glass planes give me a raging hard-on.
However, I can't bring myself to build one because of the lightning issue.
Talking to the kit manufacturers at Sun-n-Fun hasn't brought satisfaction to
my angst (basically, the salesmen don't know squat about the issue).

I wonder how the helicopter manufacturers protect their composite blades
from being damaged by lightning? (Painful image developing)

D.

There are a whole lot of glass planes out there flying every day, both
production and experimental. The reported strikes have been very few. I
suspect that the odds of getting killed driving to the airport are far greater
than being killed because of a lightning strike in a glass plane.


Bob Reed
www.kisbuild.r-a-reed-assoc.com (KIS Builders Site)
KIS Cruiser in progress...Slow but steady progress....

"Ladies and Gentlemen, take my advice,
pull down your pants and Slide on the Ice!"
(M.A.S.H. Sidney Freedman)