In his own words - BWB and the OMABP

"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)