lightning strikes

mmilano

mmilano

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Mike Milano
have any of you IFR pilots ever had a lightning strike? i'm wondering what the effects are.

i know the plane isn't grounded, and it's supposed to not really hurt people, but i also wonder about electronics failing or if it causes the plane to move like it's been hit by something.
 
mmilano said:
have any of you IFR pilots ever had a lightning strike? i'm wondering what the effects are.

i know the plane isn't grounded, and it's supposed to not really hurt people, but i also wonder about electronics failing or if it causes the plane to move like it's been hit by something.
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Not struck by lightning, but I have been through a couple of static discharges, which are kind of sort of in a left handed sort of way similar. In a lightning strike, the discharge was going to happen anyway and chose to go through the airplane. In a static discharge, the buildup is the result of the airplane going through the atmospheric conditions condusive to buildups.

In our case, nothing happened to the airplane or the avionics. Just a flash outside the airplane and a POP sound.
 
Never had the pleasure myself, but there have been photos on the net at various times, showing what purported to be lightning strikes on aircraft. The physical damage always appeared to be minimal, like a little black hole in the fuselage. But I have heard that the power surge etc can really wipe out electronics.

Jim G
 
mmilano said:
have any of you IFR pilots ever had a lightning strike? i'm wondering what the effects are.

I know the plane isn't grounded, and it's supposed to not really hurt people, but i also wonder about electronics failing or if it causes the plane to move like it's been hit by something.
Click to expand...

Operating the Connie on project magnet, we towed a magnetometer 5 miles behind the Connie measuring the earth's magnetic field. Doing that, we were struck by lighting many times. Most of the time we didn't know until after the filght becaue the Magnetometer had a copper cable 20' long trailing behind it, where the charge left the aircraft. We would see it get shorter and shorter. until it was changed at 10'.
Bonding is the term we use to explane that all parts of the aircraft are electrictly one (all the parts are grounded to each other) because if the lighting charge jumps from one part to another, it will arc. Most times that is across the bearing surface which destroys the bearing, so we provide a lessor resistant path for the electric charge. "bonding wire" across the bearing.
 
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One of the guys recently took one on the LJ45, b/c it now has a pin hole in the radar dome. Wasnt me though.

Now there was a young stupid gentleman that took one in the King Air and the becone on the bottom of the plane was shattered and there was a pin hole in the elevator. Dunno who that stupid guy was though. :):dunno:
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Not struck by lightning, but I have been through a couple of static discharges, which are kind of sort of in a left handed sort of way similar way
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You want to rethink that?

You owe me an apology........if you remember the movie, Popeye, with Robin Williams & Shelly Duvall (a perfect Olive Oyl) you know what I mean.
 
Richard said:
You want to rethink that?

You owe me an apology........if you remember the movie, Popeye, with Robin Williams & Shelly Duvall (a perfect Olive Oyl) you know what I mean.
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Well, I don't remember. I see no smilies or anything of that nature. Are you serious about the apology?
 
Greg Bockelman said:
Well, I don't remember. I see no smilies or anything of that nature. Are you serious about the apology?
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Serious? No. I was just taking a jab at you for using the phrase. :cheerswine:
 
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