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Very fun ...but not aerobatic

 
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vettin74(at)yahoo.com
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:00 am    Post subject: Very fun ...but not aerobatic Reply with quote

Lightning Group..
The lightning is a Very responsive and agile airplane but its design goal was never to be an aerobatic aircraft. I am sure that they have been rolled many times by customers, but remember it was never intended for this purpose. As the builder and "manufacturer" of the aircraft you are responsible for what it does and what is done with it. The Arion Aircraft Design group does not advertise that it is aerobatic nor have we tested the Lightning for that purpose. Please do not take this e-mail in the wrong fashion it is just an informitive post for all that read here. Thank you very much for all the interest in the lightning we hope to see many more well built aircraft this year.

Nick Otterback
Production Manger
Arion Aircraft LLC

Brian Whittingham <dashvii(at)hotmail.com> wrote:
[quote]--> Lightning-List message posted by: "Brian Whittingham"
Did you get any pics of the Green Landings Lightnings?

While the WT-9 and the Lightning look a little bit similar I think that the
Lightning is the better looking of the two planes - opinion. The Lightning
is the better performer as per the stats on each - fact. The baggage room
for the Lightning is larger than the WT-9 has - fact. The Rotax engine is a
good engine in its own right, but if you haven't flown behind the Jabiru 6
cylinder you're missing out. It is cheap to operate, fairly high TBO, and
the smoothest running engine. Also if you don't run straight pipes it is a
quiet engine. I have no idea on the cost of the WT-9, but I do know the
cost of the Lightning and for what you get it's a steal! I also haven't
flown the WT-9, but I have got about 20 hours in the Lightning and quiet a
bit of it being cross-country time. Out of about 30 different kinds of
airplanes that I have flown the Lightning is one of my favorites if not my
favorite airplane. (two others are the Cirrus SR-22, although the ride
seemed rougher than the Lightning and price is definately much higher. Also
love the old twin Beech Travel Air) It really depends on what you're after.
For me I love a sporty plane where I feel like I'm in a corvette, but I
also like a comfortable flying/riding plane. For me the controls for the
Lightning are superior! You only get this kind of a feel in airplanes with
pushrods. I love being able to feel the airplane through the stick and not
through my butt. What I mean by that is that the controls give a minute
feedback that may be unperceivable in the ride. This kind of melds the
pilot and aircraft, and honestly makes a person look like a better pilot
than they are in my opinion. The airplane's stability is a great tradeoff
between stable cross-country flyer and a fun airplane. It's an easy plane
to fly where you can make nice shallow coordinated turns and keep a constant
altitude on cross-country flights, but if you want to go up on a pretty
Sunday afternoon and want to add "extra stick" you can really roll this one.

The first time that I saw the plane it was a hollow fuselage and a pair of
wings stacked in a corner. No engine, no canopy, but the Lightning logo on
the tail. It already had me interested, but seeing the plane progress and
the constant improving and experimenting before the first kits sold told me
it'd be a good flying plane. I constantly asked Nick what the performance
specs were up to as the flight test program progressed. The original
guestimate data was met in every performance regime, which is impressive
enough, but if I'm not mistaken it was exceeded in every regime. I was
somewhat sceptical that they could do what is now published, but I can now
tell you from experience it will. This one is a hoot to fly. I know that
Buz can back me up on that one!

This airplane has been rolled many times. It is certified to 5g's which is
what the Citabria that I learned aerobatics in was. Don't know if it's been
looped or not.

One last note is that from time to time I do work with the company, but I am
not on the payroll and do not work for them. I do have a biased opinion in
that I love that plane and I really do love that Jabiru six, but think that
my flight review is unbiased and a fair assessment. I'll try to post that
again if I can find it. Thanks, Brian W.

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dashvii(at)hotmail.com
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 22, 2007 7:40 am    Post subject: Very fun ...but not aerobatic Reply with quote

Yes, I probably should put a disclaimer on my email there. It is a normal
category aircraft, not an aerobatic aircraft. It is highly manueverable
though and have both seen it rolled and have read others that have rolled
it. You could roll a Cherokee 140 though if you had the mind to. Basically
you are making yourself into a test pilot since these conditions were never
tested by the company. I'm sure that they don't want the liability of
saying that you could when they haven't tested it either. Again I don't
work for the company and am therefore not an authorized spokesperson. Just
lucky enough to have flown the Lightning's and live in the area so I can
check up on the progress from time to time. Good catch there Nick, Brian W.

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vettin74(at)yahoo.com
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 23, 2007 6:14 am    Post subject: Very fun ...but not aerobatic Reply with quote

The lightning is an experimental aircraft and is operated in what ever fashion the builder sees fit along with hopefully the recommendations from the kit manufacturer. And in this case is rated to +5 -3 gs

nick

ittingham <dashvii(at)hotmail.com> wrote:
[quote]--> Lightning-List message posted by: "Brian Whittingham"

Yes, I probably should put a disclaimer on my email there. It is a normal
category aircraft, not an aerobatic aircraft. It is highly manueverable
though and have both seen it rolled and have read others that have rolled
it. You could roll a Cherokee 140 though if you had the mind to. Basically
you are making yourself into a test pilot since these conditions were never
tested by the company. I'm sure that they don't want the liability of


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