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Lightning Economy

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Bill Strahan

Joined: 20 Aug 2008
Posts: 145

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:27 pm Post subject: Lightning Economy

First, the big advantage to planning a trip in your own plane versus going commercial:  



Two days before you're going to the Bahamas with your younger daughter, she says she'd rather go to L.A.  You reply "No problem" and start planning a new route.  Maybe plan a flyover of the meteor crater near Winslow.  Stop at Sedona for lunch...



The day before you're going to leave for L.A. she says she'd rather go see her grandparents and then her uncle.  Hmmm.  "No problem" once again and back into flight planning mode.



The Night before you leave she asks to stop somewhere interesting for lunch before the grandparents.  As always, "No problem!"



So the Bahamas are out, L.A. is out, and the grandparents are notified.  But the uncle is having surgery, so she requests somewhere "Like Taos, or Angel Fire."  



I'm so glad I didn't buy tickets!  Commercial flying just doesn't work for fickle girls.



We went to Fredericksburg first, and had lunch and went to the Nimitz museum.  If you're into museums and have a couple of days to spare, go check out it in Fredericksburg, Texas.  You really need more than a day to do it justice!



Then on to the parents for two nights, followed by a great flight out to Santa Fe, NM.  Here's the whole route:



http://tfrcheck.com/Default.aspx?tabid=147&Route=TKI-HQZ-T82-3R9-SAF-TKI



 Now, for the economy:  We covered 1275 nm.  We burned less than 50 gallons of fuel!  I typically flew at 125 knots and less than 5 gph.  



Now THAT is economical and it's nice to take a 560 mile leg and land with more than 2 hours of fuel in the tanks!



It's not perfect yet, but I LOVE my Lightning.  And Katie didn't seem to mind spending about 10 hours in it either!

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n5pb(at)AOL.COM
Guest

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 4:55 pm Post subject: Lightning Economy

Bill, (and the group)

   Sounds like you had fun; other things about flying in your own plane vs commercial.  1.  You are the pilot and 2, you are flying first class

   (especially in the Lightning!!) , and 3, you can take more the 3 oz of liquids...

    

   BTW, an update on my shimmy problem.   I am now VERY intimate with my tires, tubes, brakes, brake pads (popping off the rivets and riveting new ones on), rotors, wheels, wheel bearings, wheel bearing grease, integrated wheel bereings, safety wire, Matco service bulletins, bolts and torque values, dyna beads, regular wheel balancing.  Not to mention the intimacy  with the controllers here at KPIE as I've probably have more high speed taxi time than air time in the last 6 weeks....

    

   So what caused the shimmy?   Pick one....

    

   After all new wheels, new brake pads, news tires (6-ply), new tubs and manual balancing,  I don't have any shimmy....so like I said pick one.

    

   However, It's been a good education though and it is why we build in the first place...

    

   Bear

    

    

   

 

  

   

 

 

   --

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N1BZRich(at)AOL.COM
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Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:09 pm Post subject: Lightning Economy

Great thoughts, Bill, and I agree with Bear that you are right on.  If  you happen to have any photos of your trip, I am sure the newsletter readers  would like to see them.

 Blue Skies,

 Buz

  

  In a message dated 8/16/2010 8:28:43 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  bill(at)gdsx.com writes:

  	  Quote: 	
		  -->    Lightning-List message posted by: "Bill Strahan"    <bill(at)gdsx.com>



First, the big advantage to planning a trip in    your own plane versus going commercial:  



Two days before you're    going to the Bahamas with your younger daughter, she says she'd rather go to    L.A.  You reply "No problem" and start planning a new route.  Maybe    plan a flyover of the meteor crater near Winslow.  Stop at Sedona for    lunch...



The day before you're going to leave for L.A. she says she'd    rather go see her grandparents and then her uncle.  Hmmm.  "No    problem" once again and back into flight planning mode.



The Night    before you leave she asks to stop somewhere interesting for lunch before the    grandparents.  As always, "No problem!"



So the Bahamas are out,    L.A. is out, and the grandparents are notified.  But the uncle is having    surgery, so she requests somewhere "Like Taos, or Angel Fire."     



I'm so glad I didn't buy tickets!  Commercial flying just doesn't    work for fickle girls.



We went to Fredericksburg first, and had lunch    and went to the Nimitz museum.  If you're into museums and have a couple    of days to spare, go check out it in Fredericksburg, Texas.  You really    need more than a day to do it justice!



Then on to the parents for two    nights, followed by a great flight out to Santa Fe, NM.  Here's the whole    route:



http://tfrcheck.com/Default.aspx?tabid=147&Route=TKI-HQZ-T82-3R9-SAF-TKI



Now,    for the economy:  We covered 1275 nm.  We burned less than 50    gallons of fuel!  I typically flew at 125 knots and less than 5    gph.  



Now THAT is economical and it's nice to take a 560 mile leg    and land with more than 2 hours of fuel in the tanks!



It's not perfect    yet, but I LOVE my Lightning.  And Katie didn't seem to mind spending    about 10 hours in it either!





Read this topic online    here:



http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=309043#309043===============================================

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  [quote][b]

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Bill Strahan

Joined: 20 Aug 2008
Posts: 145

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 9:54 pm Post subject: Re: Lightning Economy

Sorry, no pictures of the flight or with the plane.  Sounds crazy, but we just didn't concern ourselves with any of that.  We just had fun and did whatever we happened to think to do.



Once I get a few more things done on the plane and have perhaps 100 hours on the engine, I'll take it from Dallas via New Orleans to Cancun and I will thoroughly document that flight because it will be cool.  I'll try to talk some other Lightning owners into going with me, and having a little Mexican adventure from Cancun to Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

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JamesL(at)Lugoj.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:22 pm Post subject: Lightning Economy

I see a lot of videos on the net showing the kind of visibility one gets from

cockpits of various aircraft. The most useful are those where the person

occasionally pans the camera to give an idea of how much, and where, wings and

supports obstruct visibility in flight and while taxiing. Has anyone done any

such videos, or still photos, from inside Lightnings?



Jim



Bill Strahan wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   

 

 Sorry, no pictures of the flight or with the plane.  Sounds crazy, but we

 just didn't concern ourselves with any of that.  We just had fun and did

 whatever we happened to think to do.

 

 Once I get a few more things done on the plane and have perhaps 100 hours on

 the engine, I'll take it from Dallas via New Orleans to Cancun and I will

 thoroughly document that flight because it will be cool.  I'll try to talk

 some other Lightning owners into going with me, and having a little Mexican

 adventure from Cancun to Playa del Carmen and Tulum.

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Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

http://www.matronics.com/Navigator?Lightning-List

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