Today's Message Index:
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1. 05:24 PM - Build Manual (Colin J. Kennedy)
2. 07:29 PM - A trip to "Lightning Operations" (N1BZRich@AOL.COM)
3. 07:53 PM - Re: Build Manual (N1BZRich@AOL.COM)
Message 1
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It is great to see multiple Lightnings being completed and flown.
I was at Osh in 20005 and met Buzz, Tex and Dave among others. That is
when
several of us went from being Esqual wannabees to Lightning wannabees.
I was very close to ordering a Lightning last summer, but realising my
inexperience with building, I decided to wait. I am interested in
building
at home rather than using the builders' assist program.
What is te status of the build manual now Pete/Nick? Will it be
published on
the Internet soon, as you used to publish the Esqual builders' manual?
I found this to be a great motivator!
It is also great to hear that the demonstrator is nearing completion.
When
it is available, I will schedule a trip to Shelbyville.
Colin K.
OK
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Subject: | A trip to "Lightning Operations" |
Hello to all Lightning pilots, builders, and fans,
Hopefully this "rather long" trip report will generate some more message
traffic about the Lightning. I hope so. Feel free to inject your thoughts,
ideas, suggestions, or questions. Someone on the list will probably have
the answers. Here goes:
I just spent another ten days with the Lightning guys in Tennessee and
thought I would post a few thoughts and observations. The purpose of my trip
from Virginia to Shelbyville was twofold. First, my Jabiru 3300 powered
Esqual LS (Lightning Stuff) now has 250 hours on it (in the last 14 months) and
I
needed to do some time phased preventative engine maintenance. More on that
later. The second reason for the trip was to help Joe and Linda Mathias
(good friends from Virginia) with the initial test flights on their Lightning
and also help them with some of the detail things like gear leg fairings and
wheel pants.
The trip out here Friday a week ago was one of the roughest rides I have
had in a light airplane. I bumped all the way across Virginia and the
eastern half of Tennessee and at times saw winds as high as 80 mph (about 30
degrees off the nose) and an effective head wind of almost 50 mph. Luckily, the
winds changed to mostly cross winds as I got further into Tennessee, so I was
able make up some time and get my average speed up some. As I usually do, I
made the trip non stop, but it took 4.2 hours due to the head winds. I still
managed to average 130 mph block to block, but I normally can make the trip
in 3.3 hours with a block to block speed close to 170. Fuel burn for this
trip was about 6 gph - slightly higher that I normally burn, but I kept trying
different altitudes with hopes of finding less head winds and smoother air.
No luck.
Saturday morning (24 Feb) the Lightning and Jabiru aircraft guys
attended an EAA fly-in here at Shelbyville. Yes, we took off from here and then
"flew-in". Nick in the prototype Lightning, Pete in a new Special Light Sport
Jabiru, and me in 31BZ, flew some formation before landing for another great
EAA breakfast. The ramp was full and the food was great, so it was a good
fly-in.
Saturday afternoon Pete helped me do yet another head torque and valve
adjustment (not a requirement for those of you that have the new hydraulic
lifter engines). We also replaced the distributor caps and rotors, put on new
plug wires, and set the gap between the flywheel magnets and ignition coils.
Note: the distributor caps and rotors are time replacement items which I
should have done at 200 hours. One other thing we did was to check my engine
serial number against the Jabiru Service Bulletin having to do with the
flywheel bolts. Luckily my engine serial number (843) did not require the
procedures called out in the SB.
Sunday was spent doing a few other maintenance and clean up items on
31BZ while Pete flew some more time off another SLA Jabiru. Believe it or not,
Pete and Ben (with family members) went to a Circus here in Shelbyville
Sunday afternoon. You would think they would have had their fill of dealing with
us "Clowns" on a daily basis.
Monday was a big event as Nick made a first flight in Rick Bowen's
Lightning which flew beautifully with no airframe corrections required. I
happened to be airborne flying some demo flights at the time and was able to get
a
close up view of Rick's "jet" in flight. Unfortunately, I did not have a
camera with me, but it is another beautiful Lightning.
Tuesday's big event was Linda and Joe's airworthiness inspection by the
local FAA DAR. The inspection went well - as do all of the inspections in
Shelbyville because the Lightning and Jabiru guys know their stuff and have a
great reputation with the FAA. I am always impressed as to how "on top of
things" the Tennessee gang is. If you have any kind of "tool skills" and will
listen to their guidance, you will end up with a fantastic airplane.
Wednesday was probably a first for the Arion Aircraft group as two
Lightnings made their first flights on the same day. Linda and Joe trusted me
enough to give me the honor of making the first flight in their "Lightning Bug"
(N59JL) and it flew beautifully. Linda will take over the test flying duties
soon. Shortly after that flight Nick made the first flight in Joe Cooper's
Lightning and Joe was on hand to witness the event. I had flown earlier that
day with Joe in the left seat of 31BZ and he is anxious to climb in his own
cockpit to see how much better the Lightning really is. Another neat thing
about Wednesday was that two Lightnings that had previously "flown the coop"
returned to "home plate". Earl Ferguson and John Davis both flew back to SYI
for a visit. Earl flew some demo flights in his soon to be "record setter"
(ask Earl what that means). And John's "red, white, and blue patriotic
Lightning" is absolutely beautiful, but I have to ask John where he got that short
"dorky looking" prop; in a box of Cracker Jacks maybe?
Saturday (3 March) was another EAA fly-in breakfast, this time at
Winchester, Tennessee. Three aircraft made the hop to BGF from SYI. Pete flew
the
Jabiru 170 with Joe Mathias flying as co-pilot, Ben was in the Jab 250 with
Linda Mathias, and I took Joe and Linda's (N59JL) on it's first cross
country. The winds were forecast to be high all day in this part of Tennessee,
and
the weather guessers were right. When we got back to SYI we had a direct
cross wind of 17 knots with gusts close to 30. I must admit I was concerned,
being in a new airplane, but the Lightning handled the cross wind with no
problem. The afternoon was spent fitting gear leg fairings and wheel pants to
N59JL since the winds prevented effective test flying.
Sunday morning I put another 1.2 hours on Linda and Joe's Lightning in
order to reach a total of 5 hours so that we could do the initial head torque.
After that Linda and I flew one last flight in my Esqual with her in the
left seat and doing all the flying. She handled the cross wind well and felt
ready to fly her Lightning so she did just that, flying for an hour. While
Linda was airborne, Mark and I took 31BZ up for more transition training for
him. Mark flew some loose formation with Linda for a while in order to check
her airspeed indications. Overall a full, fun day. Linda's landing was
superb, so congratulations are in order for her initial solo in an airplane she
built. And it is a beautiful example of the Lightning.
A few other observations:
-The new Lightning Demonstrator is back from the paint shop and it is
going to be a super aircraft. It will have a great panel layout with an
impressive dual screen Grand Rapids EFIS set up. It should fly in a few weeks.
Look for this new Demonstrator Lightning at Sun-N-Fun where it will be doing
triple duty - in the display booth, in the fly-by pattern, and flying demo
rides for potential customers. Speaking of SNF, so far it looks like at least
five Lightnings will be there (plus 31BZ). I am sure we will have some sort
of get together while there, so make your plans now to attend. Lets make it a
real "Lightning Storm".
-The Prototype Lightning will be testing a new prop to try in the near
future. Nick has been running it with a ground adjustable carbon fiber
Sensenich set to a pitch of 56 inches and the engine will still turn up at least
3400 RPM. Nick mounted a new Sensenich wooden 64ZK58 on Saturday and will be
trying it out this Monday if winds and weather allow. Stand by for a "sonic
boom" as Nick starts testing the Lightning with this prop. Nick will provide
actual test results when available.
-The Jabiru hangar (next to Lightning) is full of Jabiru aircraft in
various stages of completion. If you want a "turn key" Special Light Sport
Aircraft that will run circles around a Cessna 172, a Piper Cherokee, or
certainly any LSA, take a look at the Jabiru 250. I am lucky enough to have
flown
the Jabiru 170, 250 and 400, and all are impressive. Talk to Ben about a test
flight in one of these unique airplanes, but do it soon - they build one a
week and they are sold out until sometime in June.
-Final thoughts: It never ceases to amaze me at the overall value and
capability that the Lightning represents. If you want a truly beautiful kit
built aircraft that is relatively inexpensive (compared to other aircraft with
similar performance), quick to build, and has amazing performance while
being extremely economical to operate, you absolutely have to seriously consider
the Lightning. You will not be disappointed. And remember, it can also be
built to meet the Light Sport requirements. Also, if you are in a real hurry
to get in the air, sign up for their builder's assist program. With their
expert help and guidance, you will soon be flying an aircraft of your own
creation. That is certainly a rewarding experience. Another observation is that
the quality of the finished product when using the builders assist program,
is absolutely superb. All of the Lightnings built here that I have seen (and
I think I have seen them all) could easily be called "show quality". They
will get lots of attention at any EAA fly-in. If you don't win a trophy it
may be because the Judges asked you "How long did it take you to build your
airplane?" They may not believe you.
-Heck, I want a Lightning. Anyone want to buy a fast Esqual?
Blue Skies,
Buz Rich
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Message 3
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Subject: | Re: Build Manual |
Hi Colin,
Nick showed me the Lightning build manual again while I was here this
week and it looks great. A while back I did some editing on it and made a few
suggestions such as "use lots of photos" which they have done. Overall I
think it will be one of the most comprehensive build manuals in the home built
world. I look back to the information I had when I built my Pitts, and marvel
at how much better things will be with this type of build manual. The few
guys building Lightnings now on their own have been sent sections of the
manual as they becomes available and they are providing suggestions as to how
to
improve it as well. So what you will get will be a thorough "how to do it"
manual that lays out what to do, how to do it, and in what order it should be
done, with lots of photos to help explain the processes. With the builders
manual you will have the benefit of the expertise of the builder's assist team
plus the experience of other builders that have "been there, done that".
Overall, a great combination of information.
Blue Skies,
Buz
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