Lightning Strike

[roee]

Interesting stuff! With lightning, and static electricity and arcing in general, there is a little bit of voodoo involved. I'm kidding of course, the laws of physics still apply. But as has been noted, lightning is a complex phenomenon, and analyzing or predicting its behavior is not at all as straight forward as a simple resistive circuit. That's why it's really interesting to hear the empirical observations of those who've actually experienced it. Good stuff.

[Nickb145]

A little Ironic when you have that lighting bolt there.
Nasty hole.

[JustRich44]

I had a couple experiences while in the military working around helicopters. The first time was a relatively minor lightning strike that resulted in burn marks on rotor blades (entry point?) and a couple of paint burns on the lower fuselage (exit points). The next aircraft sustained a major strike that entered the upper tail rotor blade (while tied down) and exited at various points on the aircraft. This aircraft had the tail rotor blade explosively blown apart, all of the gear boxes/transmission were strongly magnetized, and there were several burn holes in the lower part of the fuselage. Needless, to say this one was bundled up and sent to depot for a major overhaul...if they even bothered. For all I know it may be a part of my RV7 after they melted it down.

Bottom line....nothing stands in the way of Mother Nature.

[Jekyll]

I ran aircraft maintenance departments in the military and we had a number of lightning strikes. We always did a very detailed inspection of all bearings such as rod ends and wheels because it often welded them tight. All control runs were closely inspected. Helicopter gear boxes often went back for overhaul to look for internal damage. Inflight strikes were always better than on-ground strikes. In-flight strikes often left small entrance and exit burns and killed magnetic compasses.

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by Mel

This is also why I've always said that I would NEVER paint Flames on an airplane or car.

I think i'll paint a smooth-running engine on mine, and blue skies...