---------------------------------------------------------- Lightning-List Digest Archive --- Total Messages Posted Wed 02/03/10: 5 ---------------------------------------------------------- Today's Message Index: ---------------------- 1. 06:43 AM - Re: Lightning Construction Manual (N1BZRich@AOL.COM) 2. 08:10 AM - Re: Lightning Construction Manual (Mark Stauffer) 3. 05:04 PM - Re: Lightning Construction Manual (Mark Stauffer) 4. 09:14 PM - Rotec TBI (Bill Strahan) 5. 09:16 PM - Re: Lightning Construction Manual (Bill Strahan) ________________________________ Message 1 _____________________________________ Time: 06:43:49 AM PST US From: N1BZRich@AOL.COM Subject: Re: Lightning-List: Lightning Construction Manual Hi George, I think you will be very pleased with you choice of the Lightning for your next aircraft building project. It is a great airplane with fantastic performance and outstanding looks. I watched a friend build a Pulsar here in Virginia some years ago (before the Lightning was on the market) and it was a much more involved project. He certainly invested much more than 1200 hours in his Pulsar build. Another friend (in Texas) has just completed a Pulsar and is doing the Phase One testing at the moment. It is actually covered in the February Lightning Newsletter. The Lightning is truly a quick build kit and, with your past experience, you will have yours flying quickly. And as you mentioned, the Pulsar was quite small. I could not get in it because of the limited leg and head room and I am only 6'2". The Lightning can easily carry two people my size. Reference the Lycoming O-290, another friend used a G model (old ground power unit) modified to aviation standards in his Pitts and it worked rather well. So, you could probably adapt an O-290 to the Lightning, but you would lose quite a bit of useful load - probably close to 100 pounds. From memory, I think the Lycoming O-290 dry weight is close to 265 pounds and the installed weight will certainly be more. Again, from memory, the Jabiru 3300 is around 180 pounds and that includes the exhaust, starter, and all other accessories. That much weight difference ahead of the firewall will certainly cause some W&B adjustments - like putting the battery quite a bit aft in the fuselage. And remember, the easiest and best way to make an airplane faster and perform better is to keep the weight down. I would also suspect that the fuel burn on the O-290 would be quite a bit more than the 3300. Other considerations would be the fact that the Jabiru would "bolt right in" per the plans but you would have to come up with your own O-290 systems such as exhaust, oil cooling set ups, etc., etc. Also, the routine maintenance cost of such things as spark plugs and oil filters, etc. would run much more for the O-290. Which ever way you go, don't forget to write some articles for the newsletter while you are building and flying. I am sure your experience and "lessons learned" will be very beneficial to future Lightning builders and flyers. One other thought, I seem to remember only one Lightning owner from California - John Krizman (not sure if I am spelling that right). I took John for a demo flight some time ago and he just recently completed his build at the Shelbyville facility. Not sure if he has his "jet" in California yet or not. Mark and Nick can fill you in, but I certainly agree with your plan to visit Greg Hobbs in Arizona to see his Lightning and probably get a demo flight. Blue Skies, Buz Rich In a message dated 2/2/2010 11:34:06 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, pulsar1@sbcglobal.net writes: I am considering building a Lightning. I have read all of the newsletters and I am impressed with the airplane. I know that the advertised construction time is about 600 hours. I have constructed a Pulsar and the advertised building time for that aircraft was 1200 hours. The Pulsar has been flying for 10 years but has always been a little to small for me and a passenger. It's time to build another plane. So, my question is: Are there any samples of the Lightning build manual that I could look at to see the level of detail in the construction. Something that will give me an idea of what needs to be built in the 600 hours. One thing that really appeals to me is the short build time. Also, has anyone used a different engine in the aircraft? I have an 0290 that I would like to use if possible. Thanks George Gennuso _pulsar1@sbcglobal.net_ (mailto:pulsar1@sbcglobal.net) (http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Lightning-List) (http://www.matronics.com/contribution) ________________________________ Message 2 _____________________________________ Time: 08:10:37 AM PST US From: "Mark Stauffer" Subject: RE: Lightning-List: Lightning Construction Manual John's plane is still with us here in Shelbyville. The plane is flying and just waiting for John to come back and finish up his Phase 1 testing before making the trek back to Sacramento. Mark -----Original Message----- From: owner-lightning-list-server@matronics.com [mailto:owner-lightning-list-server@matronics.com]On Behalf Of N1BZRich@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 8:16 AM To: lightning-list@matronics.com Subject: Re: Lightning-List: Lightning Construction Manual Hi George, I think you will be very pleased with you choice of the Lightning for your next aircraft building project. It is a great airplane with fantastic performance and outstanding looks. I watched a friend build a Pulsar here in Virginia some years ago (before the Lightning was on the market) and it was a much more involved project. He certainly invested much more than 1200 hours in his Pulsar build. Another friend (in Texas) has just completed a Pulsar and is doing the Phase One testing at the moment. It is actually covered in the February Lightning Newsletter. The Lightning is truly a quick build kit and, with your past experience, you will have yours flying quickly. And as you mentioned, the Pulsar was quite small. I could not get in it because of the limited leg and head room and I am only 6'2". The Lightning can easily carry two people my size. Reference the Lycoming O-290, another friend used a G model (old ground power unit) modified to aviation standards in his Pitts and it worked rather well. So, you could probably adapt an O-290 to the Lightning, but you would lose quite a bit of useful load - probably close to 100 pounds. From memory, I think the Lycoming O-290 dry weight is close to 265 pounds and the installed weight will certainly be more. Again, from memory, the Jabiru 3300 is around 180 pounds and that includes the exhaust, starter, and all other accessories. That much weight difference ahead of the firewall will certainly cause some W&B adjustments - like putting the battery quite a bit aft in the fuselage. And remember, the easiest and best way to make an airplane faster and perform better is to keep the weight down. I would also suspect that the fuel burn on the O-290 would be quite a bit more than the 3300. Other considerations would be the fact that the Jabiru would "bolt right in" per the plans but you would have to come up with your own O-290 systems such as exhaust, oil cooling set ups, etc., etc. Also, the routine maintenance cost of such things as spark plugs and oil filters, etc. would run much more for the O-290. Which ever way you go, don't forget to write some articles for the newsletter while you are building and flying. I am sure your experience and "lessons learned" will be very beneficial to future Lightning builders and flyers. One other thought, I seem to remember only one Lightning owner from California - John Krizman (not sure if I am spelling that right). I took John for a demo flight some time ago and he just recently completed his build at the Shelbyville facility. Not sure if he has his "jet" in California yet or not. Mark and Nick can fill you in, but I certainly agree with your plan to visit Greg Hobbs in Arizona to see his Lightning and probably get a demo flight. Blue Skies, Buz Rich In a message dated 2/2/2010 11:34:06 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, pulsar1@sbcglobal.net writes: I am considering building a Lightning. I have read all of the newsletters and I am impressed with the airplane. I know that the advertised construction time is about 600 hours. I have constructed a Pulsar and the advertised building time for that aircraft was 1200 hours. The Pulsar has been flying for 10 years but has always been a little to small for me and a passenger. It's time to build another plane. So, my question is: Are there any samples of the Lightning build manual that I could look at to see the level of detail in the construction. Something that will give me an idea of what needs to be built in the 600 hours. One thing that really appeals to me is the short build time. Also, has anyone used a different engine in the aircraft? I have an 0290 that I would like to use if possible. Thanks George Gennuso pulsar1@sbcglobal.net =================================== t href="http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Lightning-List">http://www.matronic s.com/Navigator?Lightning-List =================================== ms.matronics.com/">http://forums.matronics.com =================================== tp://www.matronics.com/contribution">http://www.matronics.com/contribution =================================== ________________________________ Message 3 _____________________________________ Time: 05:04:19 PM PST US From: "Mark Stauffer" Subject: RE: Lightning-List: Lightning Construction Manual John's plane is still with us here in Shelbyville. The plane is flying and just waiting for John to come back and finish up his Phase 1 testing before making the trek back to Sacramento. Mark -----Original Message----- From: owner-lightning-list-server@matronics.com [mailto:owner-lightning-list-server@matronics.com]On Behalf Of N1BZRich@aol.com Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2010 8:16 AM To: lightning-list@matronics.com Subject: Re: Lightning-List: Lightning Construction Manual Hi George, I think you will be very pleased with you choice of the Lightning for your next aircraft building project. It is a great airplane with fantastic performance and outstanding looks. I watched a friend build a Pulsar here in Virginia some years ago (before the Lightning was on the market) and it was a much more involved project. He certainly invested much more than 1200 hours in his Pulsar build. Another friend (in Texas) has just completed a Pulsar and is doing the Phase One testing at the moment. It is actually covered in the February Lightning Newsletter. The Lightning is truly a quick build kit and, with your past experience, you will have yours flying quickly. And as you mentioned, the Pulsar was quite small. I could not get in it because of the limited leg and head room and I am only 6'2". The Lightning can easily carry two people my size. Reference the Lycoming O-290, another friend used a G model (old ground power unit) modified to aviation standards in his Pitts and it worked rather well. So, you could probably adapt an O-290 to the Lightning, but you would lose quite a bit of useful load - probably close to 100 pounds. From memory, I think the Lycoming O-290 dry weight is close to 265 pounds and the installed weight will certainly be more. Again, from memory, the Jabiru 3300 is around 180 pounds and that includes the exhaust, starter, and all other accessories. That much weight difference ahead of the firewall will certainly cause some W&B adjustments - like putting the battery quite a bit aft in the fuselage. And remember, the easiest and best way to make an airplane faster and perform better is to keep the weight down. I would also suspect that the fuel burn on the O-290 would be quite a bit more than the 3300. Other considerations would be the fact that the Jabiru would "bolt right in" per the plans but you would have to come up with your own O-290 systems such as exhaust, oil cooling set ups, etc., etc. Also, the routine maintenance cost of such things as spark plugs and oil filters, etc. would run much more for the O-290. Which ever way you go, don't forget to write some articles for the newsletter while you are building and flying. I am sure your experience and "lessons learned" will be very beneficial to future Lightning builders and flyers. One other thought, I seem to remember only one Lightning owner from California - John Krizman (not sure if I am spelling that right). I took John for a demo flight some time ago and he just recently completed his build at the Shelbyville facility. Not sure if he has his "jet" in California yet or not. Mark and Nick can fill you in, but I certainly agree with your plan to visit Greg Hobbs in Arizona to see his Lightning and probably get a demo flight. Blue Skies, Buz Rich In a message dated 2/2/2010 11:34:06 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, pulsar1@sbcglobal.net writes: I am considering building a Lightning. I have read all of the newsletters and I am impressed with the airplane. I know that the advertised construction time is about 600 hours. I have constructed a Pulsar and the advertised building time for that aircraft was 1200 hours. The Pulsar has been flying for 10 years but has always been a little to small for me and a passenger. It's time to build another plane. So, my question is: Are there any samples of the Lightning build manual that I could look at to see the level of detail in the construction. Something that will give me an idea of what needs to be built in the 600 hours. One thing that really appeals to me is the short build time. Also, has anyone used a different engine in the aircraft? I have an 0290 that I would like to use if possible. Thanks George Gennuso pulsar1@sbcglobal.net =================================== t href="http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Lightning-List">http://www.matronic s.com/Navigator?Lightning-List =================================== ms.matronics.com/">http://forums.matronics.com =================================== tp://www.matronics.com/contribution">http://www.matronics.com/contribution =================================== ________________________________ Message 4 _____________________________________ Time: 09:14:43 PM PST US Subject: Lightning-List: Rotec TBI From: "Bill Strahan" It was bound to happen: I finally got some time at the airport! I built an adapter to go from the TBI to the scat tubing so the TBI and adapter together are a drop-in replacement for the Bing as far as the airflow goes. The adapter is made from 1/4" phenolic with a 2.25" inch hole in which a 2.25" outer diameter aluminum tube was epoxy/flocked. I'll get the pics off my phone tomorrow. I also assembled the regulator to the TBI with an AN-6 90 degree fuel fitting and an AN-6 to 1/4" NPT thread into the regulator. Pics tomorrow will also explaing. I had to scrounge to find those particular parts, and the regulator is positioned nicely now. THen some 1/16" aluminum angle to make a brace from the TBI to the regulator was fabricated. A similar angle was made at the bottom of the phenolic block to attach the mixture control cable. That cable and a longer throttle cable were both received from Aircraft Spruce last week. Bottom line: It looks like it's all going to fit fine, and what I spent a few weeks scratching my head over is all going to come together. If it quits raining I hope to fire up the engine tomorrow without the ability to lean the mixture, and then will keep working on routing new controls. I hope by this weekend I'll have my new mixture cable, primer, and throttle cables installed and be back flying. Boy, I can't wait. This is so clean compared to the Bing. If it works well I'll be thrilled. Buz, you still want the Hacman? It's yours for the taking. If not, next in line? Update in a few days. Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=284805#284805 ________________________________ Message 5 _____________________________________ Time: 09:16:21 PM PST US Subject: Lightning-List: Re: Lightning Construction Manual From: "Bill Strahan" mark(at)flylightning.net wrote: > John's plane is still with us here in Shelbyville. The plane is flying and just waiting for John to come back and finish up his Phase 1 testing before making the trek back to Sacramento. > > Mark > John is going to try to break my record. :P Is he going to fly it or hang it from the ceiling? [Laughing] Read this topic online here: http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=284806#284806 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other Matronics Email List Services ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Post A New Message lightning-list@matronics.com UN/SUBSCRIBE http://www.matronics.com/subscription List FAQ http://www.matronics.com/FAQ/Lightning-List.htm Web Forum Interface To Lists http://forums.matronics.com Matronics List Wiki http://wiki.matronics.com Full Archive Search Engine http://www.matronics.com/search 7-Day List Browse http://www.matronics.com/browse/lightning-list Browse Digests http://www.matronics.com/digest/lightning-list Browse Other Lists http://www.matronics.com/browse Live Online Chat! http://www.matronics.com/chat Archive Downloading http://www.matronics.com/archives Photo Share http://www.matronics.com/photoshare Other Email Lists http://www.matronics.com/emaillists Contributions http://www.matronics.com/contribution ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These Email List Services are sponsored solely by Matronics and through the generous Contributions of its members.