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Going to Oshkosh?

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wb2ssj(at)earthlink.net
Guest

Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 4:22 pm Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

I would like to meet with others who are building  Lightinings  kits at home.  Tex 

   [quote][b]

pjdisher(at)bigpond.com
Guest

Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2007 4:51 pm Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

G'Day Tex,

 Peter Disher. Australia here.

 Yes Tex, I will be there staying at the uni. from  22nd till the 30th, will be there every day, hope to catch up with  you.

 Pete D.

 [quote]   ---

wb2ssj(at)earthlink.net
Guest

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:30 am Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

Peter, will look for you at the lighting booth, I  will be helpng down at the sea base the first two days, then up to the main  area. Tex

 [quote]   ---

Colin K.

Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 157
Location: Oklahoma

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:37 am Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

Tex,



Unfortunately, I'm not going to Oshkosh this year and I have not bought a kit yet, although I too would like to build at home..



How are you getting on with yours? How is the build manual and the completeness of the kit?



Are there any aspects that you have found particularly challenging?



How is tke time going? I'm thinking you have had the kit for almost a year now, is that right? What is your prognosis for the total hours to finish?

Best regards

Colin K.

OK 

---- Tex Mantell <wb2ssj(at)earthlink.net> wrote: 

 	  Quote: 	
		   I would like to meet with others who are building Lightinings  kits at home.  Tex

_________________
Colin K.
OK

jerryvan(at)us.ibm.com
Guest

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 6:50 am Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

Hello, Tex. I am building a lightning at home, but unfortunately can not make Oshkosh this year. I have been working on my kit for about a year, and hope to fly by the end of 2007. I would be happy to exchange experiences with other homebuilders - sorry it can not be at Oshkosh, but  hope to show you my Lightning in person next year.

 

 Jerry Van Heeswyk

 Tucson, Arizona

 [img]cid:1__=88BBF980DFC2AE258f9e8a93df938(at)us.ibm.com[/img]"Tex Mantell" <wb2ssj(at)earthlink.net>

 

 

       "Tex Mantell" <wb2ssj(at)earthlink.net> 

 Sent by: owner-lightning-list-server(at)matronics.com 

07/09/2007 05:29 AM  Please respond to

 lightning-list(at)matronics.com

  
 
 
    [img]cid:3__=88BBF980DFC2AE258f9e8a93df938(at)us.ibm.com[/img]

 To

[img]cid:3__=88BBF980DFC2AE258f9e8a93df938(at)us.ibm.com[/img]

 <lightning-list(at)matronics.com>  [img]cid:3__=88BBF980DFC2AE258f9e8a93df938(at)us.ibm.com[/img]

 cc

[img]cid:3__=88BBF980DFC2AE258f9e8a93df938(at)us.ibm.com[/img]

   [img]cid:3__=88BBF980DFC2AE258f9e8a93df938(at)us.ibm.com[/img]

 Subject

[img]cid:3__=88BBF980DFC2AE258f9e8a93df938(at)us.ibm.com[/img]

 Re: Going to Oshkosh?    [img]cid:3__=88BBF980DFC2AE258f9e8a93df938(at)us.ibm.com[/img][img]cid:3__=88BBF980DFC2AE258f9e8a93df938(at)us.ibm.com[/img]    

 Peter, will look for you at the lighting booth, I will be helpng down at the sea base the first two days, then up to the main area. Tex

 ---

Colin K.

Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 157
Location: Oklahoma

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:20 pm Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

Jerry,



Would you share with us:



How are you getting on with your build? How is the build manual and the completeness of the kit? 

 

Are there any aspects that you have found particularly challenging? 

 

What is your prognosis for the total hours to finish? 

 

 

Best regards 

Colin K. 

OK 



---- Jerry Vanheeswyk <jerryvan(at)us.ibm.com> wrote: 

[quote] 

 

 

 

 

 Hello, Tex. I am building a lightning at home, but unfortunately can not

 make Oshkosh this year. I have been working on my kit for about a year, and

 hope to fly by the end of 2007. I would be happy to exchange experiences

 with other homebuilders - sorry it can not be at Oshkosh, but  hope to show

 you my Lightning in person next year.

 

 Jerry Van Heeswyk

 Tucson, Arizona

 

 

                                                                        

              "Tex Mantell"                                             

              <wb2ssj(at)earthlink                                         

              .net>                                                      To

              Sent by:                  <lightning-list(at)matronics.com>  

              owner-lightning-l                                          cc

              ist-server(at)matron                                         

              ics.com                                               Subject

                                        Re: Going to    

                                        Oshkosh?                        

              07/09/2007 05:29                                          

              AM                                                        

                                                                        

                                                                        

              Please respond to                                         

              lightning-list(at)ma                                         

                 tronics.com                                            

                                                                        

                                                                        

 

 

 

 

 Peter, will look for you at the lighting booth, I will be helpng down at

 the sea base the first two days, then up to the main area. Tex

  ---

_________________
Colin K.
OK

vanheeswyk(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:34 pm Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

Sure, Colin, I will be happy to share my experiences, but I apologize in 

advance for being wordy. The answers to your questions require some context. 

I have been very busy, and hiding among the lurkers, so pleased to have this 

opportunity to contribute to the group. I have especially enjoyed Buzz's 

comments about his Esqual LS (Lightning Stuff), because I am building a 

Lightning ES (Esqual Stuff). Since I am building to be LSA legal, I am not 

overly concerned about top speed (can't believe I am saying that). I wanted 

wheel pants more for appearance, and there happened to be a set of Esqual 

pants available. You can guess the rest.



I originally ordered an Esqual, but when the Spaniards shut down operations, 

Pete was able to convert my order to the Lightning. I was pleased with this 

solution, and realized that it was not truly a "kit" yet. My aircraft was 

more of an advanced prototype. Because of this, there were some parts not 

included, and there were no building instructions. Neither was there a bill 

of materials, so I didn't realize what was missing until I needed it. Greg 

Hobbs, who built one of the first Lightings and lives about an hour away, 

offered to provide building guidance and allow me to build my project in his 

hangar. Greg's experience, and the space were very helpful in the early 

building stages, but the two hour commute made it difficult to progress as 

fast as I would have liked. Since then, a build manual has been completed, 

and it appears pretty complete with clear descriptions and lots of pictures. 

I can now look back, and learn how I could have done things easier. It 

contains many good tips.



There was nothing particularly difficult to build, but I would recommend 

paying close attention to setting the wing and stab incidence. I am building 

my Lightning for LSA, so am attempting to build it straight and light. If I 

can trim a couple of knots off of the stall speed, I can avoid installing 

the vortex generators. The glass work on my aircraft shows a distinct grid 

pattern under the gel coat. I believe most can be removed by a heavy sanding 

during paint prep. I am told that later kits do not have this problem. I 

have been working on my aircraft a little over a year - at first only a half 

day each weekend, along with the smaller projects I could bring and complete 

in my shop. I brought the fuselage home a couple of months ago to complete 

the FWF, and install the wiring. I don't keep track of build time, but best 

guess is it will take about 1500 hours to complete. I am dreading the paint 

prep. Greg is building a paint booth, so I'll be taking it back to his place 

for final assembly and painting. I hope to be flying by year end.



I mentioned that some of the parts were omitted from the kit. In general, 

these were shipped promptly. However, I was working through  intermediaries, 

and this resulted in some communication lapses. I was becoming desperate for 

a couple of things two weeks ago, sent a note to Nick, and had them within a 

week. My sense is that all of those involved in the Lightning program are 

honest, talented, and hard working. It is a lot of work getting a new 

venture off the ground, and they are all very busy, so response has not 

always been immediate. That said (for those still considering the 

Lightning), I would strongly recommend both the aircraft and the team 

creating it.



Hope I did not bore you.



Best Regards,

Jerry

---

dashvii(at)hotmail.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 5:51 pm Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

Jerry,

   Glad to hear that your Lightning is progressing smoothly.  Post some 

pictures when done.  Also, when you see Greg again, tell him that Brian 

Whittingham said to tell him hello.  Also want to extend the possibility of 

flying proving time off any of the planes they build out there.  Looking for 

a good excuse to get back out to Arizona and to fly Lightnings.  I have 

between 60-70 hours in these birds now and feel very comfortable flying them 

and troubleshooting any issues during those first 5-10 hours.  After flying 

Jabirus, Esquals, and then Lightnings (actual Esquals before Jabirus) and 

conversing with Nick and the crew at KSYI I feel pretty good about 

identifying problems that creep in early and see that they are fixed and 

flying well before the customer flies them.  (Note: The Lightning flies 

wonderfully, I'm talking about builder issues or just fine tuning and 

calibrating)  Anyhow, good luck with the build, Brian W.

From: "Jerry Van Heeswyk" <vanheeswyk(at)cox.net>

Reply-To: lightning-list(at)matronics.com

To: <lightning-list(at)matronics.com>

Subject: Re: Going to Oshkosh?

Date: Tue, 10 Jul 2007 18:32:46 -0700




<vanheeswyk(at)cox.net>



Sure, Colin, I will be happy to share my experiences, but I apologize in 

advance for being wordy. The answers to your questions require some context. 

I have been very busy, and hiding among the lurkers, so pleased to have this 

opportunity to contribute to the group. I have especially enjoyed Buzz's 

comments about his Esqual LS (Lightning Stuff), because I am building a 

Lightning ES (Esqual Stuff). Since I am building to be LSA legal, I am not 

overly concerned about top speed (can't believe I am saying that). I wanted 

wheel pants more for appearance, and there happened to be a set of Esqual 

pants available. You can guess the rest.



I originally ordered an Esqual, but when the Spaniards shut down operations, 

Pete was able to convert my order to the Lightning. I was pleased with this 

solution, and realized that it was not truly a "kit" yet. My aircraft was 

more of an advanced prototype. Because of this, there were some parts not 

included, and there were no building instructions. Neither was there a bill 

of materials, so I didn't realize what was missing until I needed it. Greg 

Hobbs, who built one of the first Lightings and lives about an hour away, 

offered to provide building guidance and allow me to build my project in his 

hangar. Greg's experience, and the space were very helpful in the early 

building stages, but the two hour commute made it difficult to progress as 

fast as I would have liked. Since then, a build manual has been completed, 

and it appears pretty complete with clear descriptions and lots of pictures. 

I can now look back, and learn how I could have done things easier. It 

contains many good tips.



There was nothing particularly difficult to build, but I would recommend 

paying close attention to setting the wing and stab incidence. I am building 

my Lightning for LSA, so am attempting to build it straight and light. If I 

can trim a couple of knots off of the stall speed, I can avoid installing 

the vortex generators. The glass work on my aircraft shows a distinct grid 

pattern under the gel coat. I believe most can be removed by a heavy sanding 

during paint prep. I am told that later kits do not have this problem. I 

have been working on my aircraft a little over a year - at first only a half 

day each weekend, along with the smaller projects I could bring and complete 

in my shop. I brought the fuselage home a couple of months ago to complete 

the FWF, and install the wiring. I don't keep track of build time, but best 

guess is it will take about 1500 hours to complete. I am dreading the paint 

prep. Greg is building a paint booth, so I'll be taking it back to his place 

for final assembly and painting. I hope to be flying by year end.



I mentioned that some of the parts were omitted from the kit. In general, 

these were shipped promptly. However, I was working through  intermediaries, 

and this resulted in some communication lapses. I was becoming desperate for 

a couple of things two weeks ago, sent a note to Nick, and had them within a 

week. My sense is that all of those involved in the Lightning program are 

honest, talented, and hard working. It is a lot of work getting a new 

venture off the ground, and they are all very busy, so response has not 

always been immediate. That said (for those still considering the 

Lightning), I would strongly recommend both the aircraft and the team 

creating it.



Hope I did not bore you.



Best Regards,

Jerry

---

N1BZRich(at)aol.com
Guest

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:30 pm Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

Jerry,

     Good write up on your Lightning light sport project  and your experiences to date.  I have also seen their build manual (helped  edit it) and it looked great.  My hat is off to Nick for doing such a great  job on it.  As you said, lots of photos to really explain certain  processes.  Overall one of the best build manuals I have seen.

     You hit the nail on the head when you mentioned  keeping your airplane light.  That will be one of the keys to getting  the clean stall to be below 45 knots.  When flown at 1320 gross the current  demo Lightning is pretty close to that, but would need to use VGs to insure a  margin of error.   One suggestion, unless you really want to use the  VGs, don't glass your current wing tips in place.  Make them removable with  nut plates and add some extra length of wire that goes to your tip  lights/strobes.  You can probably guess why I am recommending this.   If you remember I mentioned walking around at Sun-N-Fun with Pete and Phil  (their fiberglass guy from Wisconsin) and we were looking at various wing tip  extensions.  Phil has them designed now (Nick gave me a drawing of them and  they look great) and they may be available sometime after Oshkosh.  They  might even have a set on display at Oshkosh.  Of course, Nick will flight  test them on the prototype before the design is frozen and before they will be  released to kit builders, but I anticipate only good things.  Yes, you  might lose a few knots at low altitude, and a few degrees per second of roll  rate, but the benefits will be great for the Light Sport Lightning.  If the  roll rate is compromised too much Nick and I already have an idea in mind to  increase the aileron span somewhat.  The extensions will add about 5 square  feet to each wing and that will certainly bring the clean stall to well below 45  knots.  Additional benefits would be to add some climb performance,  increased glide ratio, and possibly even some additional speed at high  altitudes.  

 Blue Skies,

 Buz



See what's free at AOL.com. 

  [quote][b]

Colin K.

Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Posts: 157
Location: Oklahoma

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 6:39 pm Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

Fantastic Jerry! Thanks for taking the time.



If you ever want to take the finished article "home" and need to stop half way in Tulsa, there's a welcome for you here.



Colin K.

OK

---- Jerry Van Heeswyk <vanheeswyk(at)cox.net> wrote: 

[quote] 

 

 Sure, Colin, I will be happy to share my experiences, but I apologize in 

 advance for being wordy. The answers to your questions require some context. 

 I have been very busy, and hiding among the lurkers, so pleased to have this 

 opportunity to contribute to the group. I have especially enjoyed Buzz's 

 comments about his Esqual LS (Lightning Stuff), because I am building a 

 Lightning ES (Esqual Stuff). Since I am building to be LSA legal, I am not 

 overly concerned about top speed (can't believe I am saying that). I wanted 

 wheel pants more for appearance, and there happened to be a set of Esqual 

 pants available. You can guess the rest.

 

 I originally ordered an Esqual, but when the Spaniards shut down operations, 

 Pete was able to convert my order to the Lightning. I was pleased with this 

 solution, and realized that it was not truly a "kit" yet. My aircraft was 

 more of an advanced prototype. Because of this, there were some parts not 

 included, and there were no building instructions. Neither was there a bill 

 of materials, so I didn't realize what was missing until I needed it. Greg 

 Hobbs, who built one of the first Lightings and lives about an hour away, 

 offered to provide building guidance and allow me to build my project in his 

 hangar. Greg's experience, and the space were very helpful in the early 

 building stages, but the two hour commute made it difficult to progress as 

 fast as I would have liked. Since then, a build manual has been completed, 

 and it appears pretty complete with clear descriptions and lots of pictures. 

 I can now look back, and learn how I could have done things easier. It 

 contains many good tips.

 

 There was nothing particularly difficult to build, but I would recommend 

 paying close attention to setting the wing and stab incidence. I am building 

 my Lightning for LSA, so am attempting to build it straight and light. If I 

 can trim a couple of knots off of the stall speed, I can avoid installing 

 the vortex generators. The glass work on my aircraft shows a distinct grid 

 pattern under the gel coat. I believe most can be removed by a heavy sanding 

 during paint prep. I am told that later kits do not have this problem. I 

 have been working on my aircraft a little over a year - at first only a half 

 day each weekend, along with the smaller projects I could bring and complete 

 in my shop. I brought the fuselage home a couple of months ago to complete 

 the FWF, and install the wiring. I don't keep track of build time, but best 

 guess is it will take about 1500 hours to complete. I am dreading the paint 

 prep. Greg is building a paint booth, so I'll be taking it back to his place 

 for final assembly and painting. I hope to be flying by year end.

 

 I mentioned that some of the parts were omitted from the kit. In general, 

 these were shipped promptly. However, I was working through  intermediaries, 

 and this resulted in some communication lapses. I was becoming desperate for 

 a couple of things two weeks ago, sent a note to Nick, and had them within a 

 week. My sense is that all of those involved in the Lightning program are 

 honest, talented, and hard working. It is a lot of work getting a new 

 venture off the ground, and they are all very busy, so response has not 

 always been immediate. That said (for those still considering the 

 Lightning), I would strongly recommend both the aircraft and the team 

 creating it.

 

 Hope I did not bore you.

 

 Best Regards,

 Jerry

 ---

_________________
Colin K.
OK

vanheeswyk(at)cox.net
Guest

Posted: Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:13 am Post subject: Going to Oshkosh?

Thanks for the tip on the wing tips, Buz. It  is too late to attach with nut plates, but I can leave an extra couple feet of  wiring. I have heard discussion of a longer wing, but didn't realize it was  envisioned to be an extension, rather than a complete wing. Seems like a good  plan, but if I can get that stall speed down, I won't worry about  it.

  

 Thanks again,

 Jerry

 [quote]   ---

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