Inflight lightning strike
 

Fascinating image taken of one on a Boeing 777 cargo plane

Photographer Snaps Once-in-a-Lifetime Picture of Plane Mid-Flight

I've been hit twice by lightning strike. Once on a King Air; and one engine got magnetized. The second time on a business jet and the strike left a mark on the nose and a burnt static discharge wick on the horizontal stabilizer.

And will never forget my first time in front of St. Elmos fire on a 737.

One thing I would like to know:

When my aircraft has been struck by lightning, it seems to always strike on the nose (A320), a few feet from my face. Why isn't it very loud in flight? To be honest it sounds like someone hit the skin with a hammer. Heavy rain sounds loud on the screen. A GPU on the ground sounds loud outside even with the avionics vents shut. Lightning strike... not so much. Why?

My theory is that the sound waves propagate away from the plane... the discharge is a line and the pressure wave (thunder) is propagating in a cylindrical fashion away from the line.

I was in an aircraft that was struck by lightning last year and an engine stalled. I researched the weather in conjunction with a physicist from Oxford University and in his opinion the aircraft induced the strike.

How long till you hit that cone, at mach .78? But I do wonder myself...

Tubby

Did the strike attach to the engine nacelle? It's not common (partly because lightning doesn't often attach to the nacelle), but if the strike attaches to the inlet the resultant pressure/temperature spike can surge the compressor. :sad:

> How long till you hit that cone, at mach .78? But I do wonder myself...
Probably after the sound has left, moving at mach 1.0;-)

Heh heh, nice one :)