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N1BZRich(at)AOL.COM
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 Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:08 pm Post subject: new soon to be option for the Lightning |
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All Lightning enthusiasts,
As you might expect, Nick and the Arion team get lots of suggestions for the Lightning. These suggestions range from such things as changes to the basic design, things to add as options, and even things that would add another flight capability for the airplane’s operation. Being a very proactive group, they evaluate all of the suggestions for the various pros and cons, and even do preliminary testing on some of the suggestions to determine if any should be incorporated. Occasionally, someone’s suggestion is determined to have great merit and that suggestion is then incorporated into the basis Lightning design, or into Arion’s overall business plan. A little over a year ago, someone asked if it would be possible to put floats on the Lightning. Obviously that is a very intriguing idea, but one that would require a great amount of time. First you must design the floats and subsystems, then produce a working prototype set of floats, and finally to flight test them: Too much time for the ever busy Lightning Skunk Works team to take on.
But sometimes potentially good suggestions have a way of getting done even if the “factory” guys are too busy to get directly involved. So, not to let a good idea go to waste, the Virginia detachment of the Lightning Skunk Works team has been hard as work in a hangar at Wakefield airport (KAKQ), with the goal of producing a prototype set of floats for the Lightning. Primary credit for the design and fabrication work of the first set of floats goes to Joe Mathias. Joe is an absolute master craftsman in all types of aircraft construction and has built and restored several Oshkosh champion aircraft in the past. Of course, Joe was ably assisted in this monumental task by his bride of many years, Linda Mathias who built Lightning kit #20, N59JL. The prototype set of floats for the Lightning are constructed of marine and aircraft quality plywood, but once the design has been flight tested, they will be used to produce a mold so that follow on floats can be quickly duplicated out of fiberglass. The photos below (photos by Russell Hornsby) show the floats mounted on the test aircraft, N31BZ, Buz’s highly modified Esqual LS (Lightning Stuff). Heck, I might change the LS to LSS to mean Lightning Stuff Seaplane.
This photo was made on the initial roll out day, but since that time, water rudders have been added to the floats and are tied directly into the aircraft’s rudder cables. We have also built a dolly that will allow the airplane to takeoff from a “land base”. The dolly also makes it easy to move the airplane around the hangar. Initial water landing and taxi testing is planned for a secluded cove in the nearby James River. We are planning to make the initial water landing later this afternoon, April 1.
Blue Skies,
Buz
Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
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EAFerguson(at)AOL.COM
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| Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:06 am Post subject: new soon to be option for the Lightning |
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Buz,
Let's see if I have this straight. You're going to leave SYI this AM, fly to VA, put the floats on and do the initial T. O. and (I presume) a landing. All this before April 1 is over.
Now pull my other leg!
Earl
Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
[quote][b]
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pennington(at)q.com
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| Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:03 am Post subject: new soon to be option for the Lightning |
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efontenot3(at)cox.net
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| Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:26 am Post subject: new soon to be option for the Lightning |
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Buz,
I saw the April newsletter and it had another picture of your "plane of floats". It appears to me that you are playing an April fools joke. I believe that I can still see the shadow of the front wheel in this other picture.
I won't tell anybody though.
Earnie Fontenot
P.S. You will hear from me again soon as me and three others have
bought John Davis' Lightning (#14).
---- N1BZRich(at)aol.com wrote:
| Quote: |
All Lightning enthusiasts,
As you might expect, Nick and the Arion team get lots of suggestions for
the Lightning. These suggestions range from such things as changes to the basic
design, things to add as options, and even things that would add another
flight capability for the airplane’s operation. Being a very proactive group,
they evaluate all of the suggestions for the various pros and cons, and even
do preliminary testing on some of the suggestions to determine if any should
be incorporated. Occasionally, someone’s suggestion is determined to have
great merit and that suggestion is then incorporated into the basis Lightning
design, or into Arion’s overall business plan. A little over a year ago,
someone asked if it would be possible to put floats on the Lightning. Obviously
that is a very intriguing idea, but one that would require a great amount of
time. First you must design the floats and subsystems, then produce a
working prototype set of floats, and finally to flight test them: Too much time for
the ever busy Lightning Skunk Works team to take on.
But sometimes potentially good suggestions have a way of getting done even
if the “factory” guys are too busy to get directly involved. So, not to let
a good idea go to waste, the Virginia detachment of the Lightning Skunk Works
team has been hard as work in a hangar at Wakefield airport (KAKQ), with the
goal of producing a prototype set of floats for the Lightning. Primary
credit for the design and fabrication work of the first set of floats goes to Joe
Mathias. Joe is an absolute master craftsman in all types of aircraft
construction and has built and restored several Oshkosh champion aircraft in the
past. Of course, Joe was ably assisted in this monumental task by his bride
of many years, Linda Mathias who built Lightning kit #20, N59JL. The
prototype set of floats for the Lightning are constructed of marine and aircraft
quality plywood, but once the design has been flight tested, they will be used
to produce a mold so that follow on floats can be quickly duplicated out of
fiberglass. The photos below (photos by Russell Hornsby) show the floats
mounted on the test aircraft, N31BZ, Buz’s highly modified Esqual LS (Lightning
Stuff). Heck, I might change the LS to LSS to mean Lightning Stuff Seaplane.
This photo was made on the initial roll out day, but since that time, water
rudders have been added to the floats and are tied directly into the aircraft’
s rudder cables. We have also built a dolly that will allow the airplane
to takeoff from a “land base”. The dolly also makes it easy to move the
airplane around the hangar. Initial water landing and taxi testing is planned
for a secluded cove in the nearby James River. We are planning to make the
initial water landing later this afternoon, April 1.
Blue Skies,
Buz
**************Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or
less. (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000001)
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tlhuffy(at)AOL.COM
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| Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:31 am Post subject: new soon to be option for the Lightning |
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Good one Buz
--
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Wayne Lenox
Joined: 07 Jan 2008
Posts: 75
Location: Arizona in the winter
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| Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:32 pm Post subject: new soon to be option for the Lightning |
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All Lightning enthusiasts,
As you might expect, Nick and the Arion team get lots of suggestions for the Lightning. These suggestions range from such things as changes to the basic design, things to add as options, and even things that would add another flight capability for the airplane’s operation. Being a very proactive group, they evaluate all of the suggestions for the various pros and cons, and even do preliminary testing on some of the suggestions to determine if any should be incorporated. Occasionally, someone’s suggestion is determined to have great merit and that suggestion is then incorporated into the basis Lightning design, or into Arion’s overall business plan. A little over a year ago, someone asked if it would be possible to put floats on the Lightning. Obviously that is a very intriguing idea, but one that would require a great amount of time. First you must design the floats and subsystems, then produce a working prototype set of floats, and finally to flight test them: Too much time for the ever busy Lightning Skunk Works team to take on.
But sometimes potentially good suggestions have a way of getting done even if the “factory” guys are too busy to get directly involved. So, not to let a good idea go to waste, the Virginia detachment of the Lightning Skunk Works team has been hard as work in a hangar at Wakefield airport (KAKQ), with the goal of producing a prototype set of floats for the Lightning. Primary credit for the design and fabrication work of the first set of floats goes to Joe Mathias. Joe is an absolute master craftsman in all types of aircraft construction and has built and restored several Oshkosh champion aircraft in the past. Of course, Joe was ably assisted in this monumental task by his bride of many years, Linda Mathias who built Lightning kit #20, N59JL. The prototype set of floats for the Lightning are constructed of marine and aircraft quality plywood, but once the design has been flight tested, they will be used to produce a mold so that follow on floats can be quickly duplicated out of fiberglass. The photos below (photos by Russell Hornsby) show the floats mounted on the test aircraft, N31BZ, Buz’s highly modified Esqual LS (Lightning Stuff). Heck, I might change the LS to LSS to mean Lightning Stuff Seaplane.
This photo was made on the initial roll out day, but since that time, water rudders have been added to the floats and are tied directly into the aircraft’s rudder cables. We have also built a dolly that will allow the airplane to takeoff from a “land base”. The dolly also makes it easy to move the airplane around the hangar. Initial water landing and taxi testing is planned for a secluded cove in the nearby James River. We are planning to make the initial water landing later this afternoon, April 1.
Blue Skies,
Buz
Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
| | - The Matronics Lightning-List Email Forum - | | | 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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Kayberg(at)aol.com
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| Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:29 pm Post subject: new soon to be option for the Lightning |
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Buz,
I suppose most of the faithful will think this is an "April Fools" joke.
But you and I know different.
Wait until you show up at Sun n Fun at the Splash In!!!!
I am so glad you decided to build the floats out of plywood instead of cast iron. That lengthy discussion we had at your house over adult beverages paid off!! It would have been a lot harder to make the molds.
I am also glad you give up on using the wheels and tires off your Corvette to make them amphibious. I understand that you think the bicycle wheels and tires will be much lighter, but be sure and put lots of air in them to cut down on the shimmy.
With just a little more work, you could use the floats for Aux tanks. Gasoline is lighter than water, so it will make you ride even higher in the water, not to mention the possibility of a non-stop flight to California to break Earl's record.
Better get that first flight in quick, Sun n Fun is just around the corner.
Blue thighs,
Doug Koenigsberg
In a message dated 4/1/2009 12:10:26 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, N1BZRich(at)aol.com writes:
| Quote: |
All Lightning enthusiasts,
As you might expect, Nick and the Arion team get lots of suggestions for the Lightning. These suggestions range from such things as changes to the basic design, things to add as options, and even things that would add another flight capability for the airplane’s operation. Being a very proactive group, they evaluate all of the suggestions for the various pros and cons, and even do preliminary testing on some of the suggestions to determine if any should be incorporated. Occasionally, someone’s suggestion is determined to have great merit and that suggestion is then incorporated into the basis Lightning design, or into Arion’s overall business plan. A little over a year ago, someone asked if it would be possible to put floats on the Lightning. Obviously that is a very intriguing idea, but one that would require a great amount of time. First you must design the floats and subsystems, then produce a working prototype set of floats, and finally to flight test them: Too much time for the ever busy Lightning Skunk Works team to take on.
But sometimes potentially good suggestions have a way of getting done even if the “factory” guys are too busy to get directly involved. So, not to let a good idea go to waste, the Virginia detachment of the Lightning Skunk Works team has been hard as work in a hangar at Wakefield airport (KAKQ), with the goal of producing a prototype set of floats for the Lightning. Primary credit for the design and fabrication work of the first set of floats goes to Joe Mathias. Joe is an absolute master craftsman in all types of aircraft construction and has built and restored several Oshkosh champion aircraft in the past. Of course, Joe was ably assisted in this monumental task by his bride of many years, Linda Mathias who built Lightning kit #20, N59JL. The prototype set of floats for the Lightning are constructed of marine and aircraft quality plywood, but once the design has been flight tested, they will be used to produce a mold so that follow on floats can be quickly duplicated out of fiberglass. The photos below (photos by Russell Hornsby) show the floats mounted on the test aircraft, N31BZ, Buz’s highly modified Esqual LS (Lightning Stuff). Heck, I might change the LS to LSS to mean Lightning Stuff Seaplane.
|
| | - The Matronics Lightning-List Email Forum - | | | 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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N1BZRich(at)AOL.COM
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| Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:32 pm Post subject: new soon to be option for the Lightning |
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In a message dated 4/1/2009 8:30:55 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, Kayberg(at)aol.com writes:
| Quote: | | so glad you decided to build the floats out of plywood instead of cast iron. |
Hi Doug,
Well, once the molds are made, I guess you could make them out of about anything - fiberglass, chocolate, or even cast iron. But Ryan did order a set for you today, and he specified cast titanium. Shouldn't be too heavy, but we do have a mod that puts a jet boat motor and nozzle in each float. Those motors will get you up to a very fast taxi and put you airplane "on step" so that you are now high enough out of the water to start the aircraft engine. If you don't use the float jets, the prop hits the water and sends out lots of spray - wears the paint off the prop tips as well.
See you at SNF.
Buz
Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less.
[quote][b]
| | - The Matronics Lightning-List Email Forum - | | | 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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