---------------------------------------------------------- Lightning-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Tue 02/19/08: 5 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 01:31 AM - Re: new guy - a few questions (Brian Whittingham) 2. 01:34 AM - Re: new guy - a few questions (Brian Whittingham) 3. 02:42 PM - arion newsletter name (Charles R Gallagher) 4. 07:10 PM - Re: arion newsletter name (N1BZRich@aol.com) 5. 09:06 PM - Re: new guy - a few questions (N1BZRich@aol.com) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 01:31:50 AM PST US From: Brian Whittingham Subject: RE: Lightning-List: new guy - a few questions Kyle, I used to fly a Beech Sierra B-24R which is known for its nose waggle wit h the nose gear rotating 90 on the way up. It's basiclaly a Sundowner with more horsepower and cleaned up with retractable gear. It was a nice plane and huge cabin for a light single. I don't have a good answer on whether you can leave a glass airplane outside for an extended period of time or no t. I know when I was flying out of SYI, we used to leave planes out on the ramp all day. I wouldn't want to leave any airplane that I owned outside for a really long period of time. Nice and sunny days are ok for a while, but I worry about hail damage, other aircraft hitting the plane, etc. If i t's just a temp thing though, maybe this wouldn't be too bad. I'll let the fiberglass guys tell you the rest. Brian W. From: flyboy909@comcast.netTo: lightning-list@matronics.comSubject: Lightni ng-List: new guy - a few questionsDate: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:51:18 -0500 Hello.. just jointed the list and am seriously considering the Lightning. Just for a little background - I'm a 300 hour, former Beech Sundowner owne r and was looking to get into something faster like a Tiger. But with the cost of avgas lately, I've been trying to come up with something more econo mical to operate, but maintain as much of the utility as possible (aside fr om the back seat... don't need it). I was thinking of building an O320 pow ered RV6A, then came across the Lightning, which looks a whole lot easier t o build, goes as fast or faster and is cheaper to operate. But the big stumbling block for me is the lack of available hangers where I am in Connecticut, and the fact that the Lightning, being glass, might not be a good candidate to leave outside. This might be a temporary situation , but what's the opinion of the group on this? Another issue, and I hate to bring this up, but what about the resale valu e of a Lightning down the road. I'm guessing that with something like an R V6A, you could recoup most of your monotary investment.. maybe not your tim e. But a Lightning...I'm guessing that at this point the early builders ar e taking a bit of a risk? Anyway, if I can get by these two issues i think it's a go for me. I've al ready made plans to be at Sun-N-Fun and hope to get a ride while I'm there. Thanks for any info Kyle Muller _________________________________________________________________ Climb to the top of the charts!-Play the word scramble challenge with sta r power. http://club.live.com/star_shuffle.aspx?icid=starshuffle_wlmailtextlink_ja n ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 01:34:49 AM PST US From: Brian Whittingham Subject: RE: Lightning-List: new guy - a few questions Green Acres is the place to be! :-) ing-list@matronics.comSubject: Re: Lightning-List: new guy - a few question s Kyle, I just want to introduce myself. I am the mid Atlantic dealer for Lightning and want to put an invite out to you to visit Green Landings in West Virgi nia to take that demo Flight and see a few different Lightnings that I have based on the field. Its funny that you mention the lack of hangar space in the Conn. area. I have a customer that built a SkyRanger with me that was also looking for hangar space in that area and was unable to find any at a reasonable cost. He now keeps his SkyRanger at Green Landings and travels t o our airport every couple weeks to fly. He is also interested in a Lightni ng, and may consider trading up one day. Anyway just wanted to say Hi and l eave that open invitation to come to Green Landings. You will love it here! ! Ryan GrossGreen Landings Flight Center, IncSkyRanger AircraftArion Lightn ing304-754-6010 -----Original Message-----From: "K Muller" To: Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:51:18 -0500Subject: Ligh tning-List: new guy - a few questions Hello.. just jointed the list and am seriously considering the Lightning. Just for a little background - I'm a 300 hour, former Beech Sundowner owne r and was looking to get into something faster like a Tiger. But with the cost of avgas lately, I've been trying to come up with something more econo mical to operate, but maintain as much of the utility as possible (aside fr om the back seat... don't need it). I was thinking of building an O320 pow ered RV6A, then came across the Lightning, which looks a whole lot easier t o build, goes as fast or faster and is cheaper to operate. But the big stumbling block for me is the lack of available hangers where I am in Connecticut, and the fact that the Lightning, being glass, might not be a good candidate to leave outside. This might be a temporary situation , but what's the opinion of the group on this? Another issue, and I hate to bring this up, but what about the resale valu e of a Lightning down the road. I'm guessing that with something like an R V6A, you could recoup most of your monotary investment.. maybe not your tim e. But a Lightning...I'm guessing that at this point the early builders ar e taking a bit of a risk? Anyway, if I can get by these two issues i think it's a go for me. I've al ready made plans to be at Sun-N-Fun and hope to get a ride while I'm there. Thanks for any info Kyle Muller http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Lightning-List http://forums.matronics.com http://www.matronics.com/contribution _________________________________________________________________ Connect and share in new ways with Windows Live. http://www.windowslive.com/share.html?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_Wave2_sharelife_0120 08 ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 02:42:23 PM PST US Subject: Lightning-List: arion newsletter name From: "Charles R Gallagher" Just for grins ,a name for the Arion news letter is suggested to be THE ARION ENLIGHTENING or ENLIGHTEN . As per Webster : to give intellectual or spiritual insight,I can say that my demo flight at the open house with Buzz at the controls was close to spiritual. Hoping to be a builder sooner than later.Regards,Charles Gallagher Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=165093#165093 ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 07:10:07 PM PST US From: N1BZRich@aol.com Subject: Re: Lightning-List: arion newsletter name Hi Charles, Good to hear from you. I appreciate your newsletter name suggestion, and believe it or not, I have had one other suggestion for The EnLightning which is very close to your The Arion EnLightning. I will add both to the list. I appreciate you mentioning last September's Lightning open house and fly-in. I think I flew 15 demonstration flights in the demo Lightning over a period of several days and it was certainly one of the highlights of 2007 for me. As you know when you have a great affection for something (like flying and aviation) you just want to share it with others, and I certainly have a great affection for the Lightning and how it flies. So thanks for mentioning the open house. I think everyone there really enjoyed it. And for all of you on this list, now is not too early to start planning for the Second Annual Lightning Open House and Fly-In. It will probably be in September again this year. Nick will let us know the exact dates. Be there, Aloha. Blue Skies, Buz **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. (http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/ 2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598) ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 09:06:53 PM PST US From: N1BZRich@aol.com Subject: Re: Lightning-List: new guy - a few questions Hi Kyle, Welcome to the group. I think you will fine a great group of folks eager to help. I agree with your assessment that the Lightning will certainly be much quicker to build and cheaper to operate than one of the RV models. Even an RV quick build kit will take you much longer than a Lightning. If you use the builder assist program you will be flying in about six weeks total time. You asked for some opinions on the Lightning being stored outside and its possible resale value verses an RV. Well, let me start out by saying that everyone has their own opinion and they may or may not be worth exactly what you pay for them. In this case not even $.02. Having said that here are my thoughts: I am the kind of guy that really likes my airplanes and, other that when at Oshkosh and Sun-N-Fun, would never let them sit outside. So go to every airport in your area and get on their hangar waiting list. As an example, one of my hangars is over an hours drive from my home. Of course my other hangar is about 5 minutes away and I often drive the 5 then fly for 15 to get to my other airplane. But often I do drive over an hour to fly the one that is further away. So start the hangar quest now and get on everyone's waiting list. And ask if they will allow you to put up your own portable hangar such as the Port-a-port company. Now if your Lightning absolutely has to sit outside, I would be more worried about the avionics than the airframe. The Lightning is fiberglass and how long have fiberglass boats and Corvettes sat outside? So if it must sit outside, build it with some good tie down fittings under the wings and then spend the money for a good cockpit cover - maybe a complete airplane cover. You kit will come with the new canopy latch which should make it easy to add a lock when it is tied down. As to question about re-sale value for a Lightning down the road, your guess is as good as any ones. However here are some things to consider. The Lightning has been advertised for maybe a year and a half and in that time frame some 55 have already sold with 22 flying. To me that is a great response from the flying public and I see no reason the Lightning would not remain a "top seller". The fact that it can be completed so quickly, looks fantastic, and performs really well on an economical fuel burn will insure it's continued success. There really is no direct competition when you consider the "really quick" quick build. And the completion rate in such a short time is probably some new record for experimental aircraft. Add to that the economical operation and as fuel prices continue up, it should become even more desirable. One other thought, and that is in the light sport aircraft arena. Just this past Saturday a dealer for one of the well known light sport aircraft presented a program on his product to one of the EAA chapters I am in. The price was well above that of a really nice Lightning (with dual EFISs) completed at the factory, and of course, the performance was no where near that of the Lightning. And it had one of those converted show mobile engines with a gear reduction unit and coolant radiator to worry about. Of course the Lightning has a real airplane engine that sounds like a real airplane. I kept asking myself why would anyone buy one of these if they knew about the Lightning. And that is probably just what is happening. Many buyers just don't do their homework and research what is out there. They need to be at Sebring, Sun-N-Fun and Oshkosh just to see what is really available in the market. Well, enough from me. I hope others on the list will jump in here and possibly relate their personal decision process and opinions on your questions. Blue Skies, Buz **************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living. 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