ASW 27 destroyed by lightning in trailer

On Friday, September 27, 2019 at 12:34:01 PM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
Ain't it great when someone who knows what the HELL he's talking about,
weighs in?

Quite shocking.

On Friday, September 27, 2019 at 10:25:58 PM UTC+1, Dave Nadler wrote:
On Friday, September 27, 2019 at 12:34:01 PM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
Ain't it great when someone who knows what the HELL he's talking about,
weighs in?

Quite shocking.

I saw what you did there Dave.

From the man who did inspection right after it happened. The fuselage was tilted in dolly. Horizontal stab pins were touching fin box. That is where lightening entered. There is no visible evidence of exit, anywhere. Suspected maybe went down the fin, jumped to trailer and forward out to ground through safety chain that was attached to tie down stake at front of trailer. Inside of fin was shattered and frayed only partially down from entry point..No visible damage to fuselage. Aircraft was totalled because of these unknowns.

On Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 9:19:03 AM UTC-7, wrote:
From the man who did inspection right after it happened. The fuselage was tilted in dolly. Horizontal stab pins were touching fin box. That is where lightening entered. There is no visible evidence of exit, anywhere. Suspected maybe went down the fin, jumped to trailer and forward out to ground through safety chain that was attached to tie down stake at front of trailer.. Inside of fin was shattered and frayed only partially down from entry point.No visible damage to fuselage. Aircraft was totalled because of these unknowns.

It's interesting that no exit points were identified, but they must exist somewhere, although they may be subtle and hard to find (that's why my job as a lightning forensics expert existed!) In any event, a path to the trailer from the fin must have been established somewhere.

The safety chains would provide a more than adequate ground and could easily have been the lightning path from the trailer chassis to earth. The Royal Navy used chains to protect the masts of sailing ships from lightning, back in the day when there was a British Empire!

My nickname of Mike the Strike was informally known to a few colleagues until it was used in a newspaper headline in the 1970s on a story involving my project to artificially trigger lightning. "Mike the Strike will make it thunder!" The name stuck since then!

Mike

On Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 3:19:14 PM UTC-6, Mike the Strike wrote:
On Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 9:19:03 AM UTC-7, wrote:
From the man who did inspection right after it happened. The fuselage was tilted in dolly. Horizontal stab pins were touching fin box. That is where lightening entered. There is no visible evidence of exit, anywhere. Suspected maybe went down the fin, jumped to trailer and forward out to ground through safety chain that was attached to tie down stake at front of trailer. Inside of fin was shattered and frayed only partially down from entry point.No visible damage to fuselage. Aircraft was totalled because of these unknowns.

It's interesting that no exit points were identified, but they must exist somewhere, although they may be subtle and hard to find (that's why my job as a lightning forensics expert existed!) In any event, a path to the trailer from the fin must have been established somewhere.

The safety chains would provide a more than adequate ground and could easily have been the lightning path from the trailer chassis to earth. The Royal Navy used chains to protect the masts of sailing ships from lightning, back in the day when there was a British Empire!

My nickname of Mike the Strike was informally known to a few colleagues until it was used in a newspaper headline in the 1970s on a story involving my project to artificially trigger lightning. "Mike the Strike will make it thunder!" The name stuck since then!

Mike

We had a 208u10 LPA (HF amplifier) struck by lightning (via LP antenna) at Mildenhall around 1980. Maintenance ordered parts as they found issues and troubleshot their repairs. By the time it was operational again, 100% of the subassemblies were replaced, excluding the chassis. Funny stuff lightning, especially when it travels through radio facilities. Hair raising at times.

Frank Whiteley

On Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 2:31:29 PM UTC-7, Frank Whiteley wrote:
On Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 3:19:14 PM UTC-6, Mike the Strike wrote:
On Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 9:19:03 AM UTC-7, wrote:
From the man who did inspection right after it happened. The fuselage was tilted in dolly. Horizontal stab pins were touching fin box. That is where lightening entered. There is no visible evidence of exit, anywhere. Suspected maybe went down the fin, jumped to trailer and forward out to ground through safety chain that was attached to tie down stake at front of trailer. Inside of fin was shattered and frayed only partially down from entry point.No visible damage to fuselage. Aircraft was totalled because of these unknowns.

It's interesting that no exit points were identified, but they must exist somewhere, although they may be subtle and hard to find (that's why my job as a lightning forensics expert existed!) In any event, a path to the trailer from the fin must have been established somewhere.

The safety chains would provide a more than adequate ground and could easily have been the lightning path from the trailer chassis to earth. The Royal Navy used chains to protect the masts of sailing ships from lightning, back in the day when there was a British Empire!

My nickname of Mike the Strike was informally known to a few colleagues until it was used in a newspaper headline in the 1970s on a story involving my project to artificially trigger lightning. "Mike the Strike will make it thunder!" The name stuck since then!

Mike

We had a 208u10 LPA (HF amplifier) struck by lightning (via LP antenna) at Mildenhall around 1980. Maintenance ordered parts as they found issues and troubleshot their repairs. By the time it was operational again, 100% of the subassemblies were replaced, excluding the chassis. Funny stuff lightning, especially when it travels through radio facilities. Hair raising at times.

Frank Whiteley

Lightning-induced voltages are many KV, so all normal electrical insulators will arc. Lightning rods aren't used to conduct the current of a strike, but to dissipate the high electric field created before the strike, which prevents the strike from occurring (this is why you don't see large gauge wire going to the rod). An old friend did an investigation of how to prevent lightning from striking a building where nuclear weapons were being assembled in Mississippi. He talked to well drillers who had the best lightning rods in the state. They all reported that their rigs had never been struck. Perhaps the pilots in FL should put up lightning rods...

Tom


Tom

2G wrote on 9/28/2019 3:30 PM:
Lightning rods aren't used to conduct the current of a strike, but to dissipate the high electric field created before the strike, which prevents the strike from occurring (this is why you don't see large gauge wire going to the rod).

I've read and heard several times that lightning rod systems can and do conduct a
lightning strike to ground. For example:

"A lightning rod is very simple -- it's a pointed metal rod attached to the roof
of a building. The rod might be an inch (2 cm) in diameter. It connects to a huge
piece of copper or aluminum wire that's also an inch or so in diameter. The wire
is connected to a conductive grid buried in the ground nearby."

https://science.howstuffworks.com/na...lightning7.htm

I'm sure some of them also work as you described, and that the system design
depends on the what's being protected and where it's situated.

At 21:25 27 September 2019, Dave Nadler wrote:
On Friday, September 27, 2019 at 12:34:01 PM UTC-4, Dan Marotta
wrote:
Ain't it great when someone who knows what the HELL he's talking
about,
weighs in?

Quite shocking.

So, anyone brave enough to admit that they were the high bidder on this rare sailplane? As Hank said, not many have landed in a lake AND been struck by lightning!

Steve Leonard

On Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 9:18:05 AM UTC-8, Steve Leonard wrote:
So, anyone brave enough to admit that they were the high bidder on this rare sailplane? As Hank said, not many have landed in a lake AND been struck by lightning!

Steve Leonard

Wasn't you then.
Jim