HI all. to answer Steve"s question about the Lightnings that where at Florida Jets. From what I saw, they all flew very well, I spotted for one and heard no complaints other than the landing gear, the nose not retracting several times and I saw some belly landings, some problems with the mains.
I am thinking about putting the Robarts 635 Eurofighter gear on mine, I donn"t think I need the larger wheels ,as I will not be flying of grass any way.
I heard, their is another landing gear in the works by a US local.
In regards to the quality of the Comp-Arf Lightning, first, it is a excellent kit, I am very happy with the overall quality of the kit, it is complete, instructions are A1, shipping box is A1, reps are A1 and the work that has already been done is amazing.
I chose the white version, as I like to paint anyway, but that may be a mistake on my part .You can get them already painted for a few more dollars.
Rcpete

I had one of the Lightnings at FJ, The landing gear is excellant, very robust and well made. The lightning is an excellant ARF and a great flying model. I may buy a second one.....

Question
Is a 36lb turbine good enough for the lightning
or would you need something bigger,ad says minimum 36lbs
that to me sounds like average performance so whats everybody out
there using.

Brian

I flew the jolly roger lightning at FJ I have an AMT Netherlands Pegasus H P auto start, 35.5 lbs seems to be more than ample power and it is heavier than the titan , first flight was an almost disaster because I was told to programme in 5% down elevator with first stage flap , as I took off all was good till I relaxed up elevator and the plane stood on its nose and looked for something to hit....... i managed to get the flap switched off and recovered but found the aircraft much too sensative to any input,,, such small movements of the surfaces are needed even with 40 % expo but to my surprise the landing was uneventful and I lived to fly again..... second flight was more or less OK, but still out of trim but flyable..again landing was a doddle with the flaps fully deployed and and the brakes on,...... but I managed to spin it on the roll out and flat spot one tire badly... the spin was caused by one tire rubbing on the strut on full compression and tearing a grove all round the side circumference.... cure was a 1/4 washer behind the brake drum to push the whole assembly away from the strut just enough to clear it..... Haven't done much more to it since but still learning what the bird is capable of...................malcolm kay

Brian

36lb is plenty, the crazy people always want more power!
I've not flown a titan powered version yet, but I'm guessing that in cold damp England where we get all the horses it would be fine with 33lb also

Dave

Thanks guys for clearing that one up
I also have an AMT Pegasus HP thats been gathering dust for sometime now
the lightning might just be the plane for it

Cheers Brian

I have Comp's Euro II, with bifurcated pipe, gear doors, speed brake, and is also painted. I am flying it with a P-160 converted to TITAN. In my opinion it has good power, to the point that I never fly it full throttle straight line for more than 10-15 seconds. I got the Lightning, which I plan to use the TITAN, with the reasoning that:
1) Single pipe, no thrust loss
2) MUCH cleaner airframe
3) Should be about the same weight than my Euro.

What I am trying to say is that I believe the TITAN should be enough power for the Lightning.

Regards

Alex

Malcolm Kay

I was wondering why it was so pitch sensitive on tht 1st Flight..............

Glad it all worked out especially after the Phoenix at Lake Wales.

Ian

I'm also slowly putting a Lightning together & will be using a Titan.

From what I understand, they key is to keep it light & install the equipment as far forward as possible to minimize the added weight later for cg. Seems like adding a heavy bluebox cockpit and/or smoke system is what will get you into trouble using a Titan.

FYI, if you check out BV's Ultra Bandit with Titan power they say it weighs 33 lbs dry. Comp-Arf says the Lightning should be 28.67 to 31.97 lbs dry.

As far as the retracts, out of the box quality is great. I like the solid up/down lock mechanism. For reliable operation, I think air pressure/volume is important due to the large pistons. The single tank supplied seems marginal. I plan on using dual tanks for retracts & seperate tank for brakes like my kingcat.

First Flights at an Event..Hmmmmm

Scott

I used Robarts largest air tank for the gear and doors and their smallest for brakes.
This gives 3 cycles easily on the gear and plenty for brakes

Dave W

Ian..in answer to your question, I had far too much movement on all the control surfaces I had double checked the CG with Andreus Geitz at the show and he pronounced nose heavy and safe for the first flight, but it was the combination of the down elevator mixed with first stage of flap and the excessive movements on the control surface that caused the pitch to be ultra sensative, even with 40 % expo dialed in, if as much as I breathed on the stick it darted up or down, so best thing to do was to get it on the ground as fast as possible and when I went straight to full flap and gear down it became much easier to hold on to it , hence the decent landing.. I have double checked the CG and it is spot on, now the movements of the control surfaces have been cut to 25% of the first flight and it still is as aerobatic as you could possible want , yet contollable in slow flight,, I have more movement available on a rate switch, but it dosn't look like I am gonna need it.. I am thrilled with the lightning , I want to keep this one, (Shades of the LW swamp).

Kevin , your quite right about first flights at events, but I did ask permission and got it, but I do take your point.....it would have been a pity to have all those Comp- arf bods there and not take advantage of them, at least it didn't go the way of someone else's lightning........

Just a small footnote.... took the lightning to our club field on sunday and put it all together on a stand and then cycled the gear as part of my preflight checks and one of the struts complete with all the retract yoke on the end, fell out and dangled by the brake line.... reason ... the pin in the behotec retract has nothing to retain it in the retract unit,on either side it had just slid out in transport and was lodged inside the wing,,, obviously the 1/4 inch steel bar ( approx ) was machined to fit the bearings in the retract but must be teenie weenie bit small to drop out like that......any body got a cure ?,, so discression was brought into play and I went to lunch and got no flights that day............

I am flying mine on a 36 pound thrust Rhino, and the performance is excellent. All who have seen the plane fly agree. I can do verticals and loops just as big as I please.

My plane came in at 37 pounds with 2 pounds of Duralites and 14 oz of additional cockpit weight. Engine weighs in at 3.5 and I have 12 oz of lead in the nose. I think you could probably bring this plane in at 33 or 34 pounds depending on battery and engine weight if you work at it.

I like the Behotec gear and would recommend you stick with the package CARF provides. Even if you don't fly off grass, the plane needs long legs to provide some tail clearance on landing and the stock gear do a good job. The trailing link nose wheel is very easy on handling, and the brakes work well.

If you use the settings provided in the manual, the plane will be sensitive to the stick. You might consider starting with these settings on high rate, and then dial a couple of reduced throws on the dual rate switches until so you can bracket the right level for your flying style.

Every time I fly this plane, I like it more. For those of you that have purchased it, I don't think you will be disappointed.

I found the best way to get around the sensitive pitch on the elevator (which I also experienced on the first flight) is to dial up the exponential to about 80% and then you can leave the travel adjustments where they are at the recommended settings. Using 40% expo is not enough to eliminate the elevator sensitivity during flight.

At some point you may need the extra travel adjustment on the elevator for landing. You can really slow this plane down for landings but when you have full flaps on it becomes heavy real fast and requires quite a bit of power and some elevator to keep it moving. Turning the travel down too much may eventually get you into trouble!! However as stated already if you get into trouble simply go to full flaps and the plane will immediatly settle down and lose the pitch sensitivity.

BTW, my Lightning is balanced right on the recommended C.G. using the method recommended in the manual. Gary

Gary,, thanks for the info . I HAVE THE ELEVATOR ON A RATE SWITCH, AND I'LL TRY YOUR METHOD WITH 80% EXPO AND SEE IF I LIKE IT........... GLAD I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE WITH PITCH SENSATIVE THUMBS ! READ MY POST ABOUT THE BEHOTEC RETRACT AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK. MALCOLM

Reference Landing Gear. I am on my second Lightning. New idea is keep it LIGHT. Hence factory kit, (notice here) Intairco gear package for Lightning, and Rhino. Hope it is the lightest one out there! WHMC p/s Pete the gear looks great.

Mr. M , Put flat spots where the set screws go! IE set toe-in, then pull struts, add flats then tighten with blue Locktite and the set screws! WHMC

Forgot ,The pins need to be set screwed to retract unit and the strut. Double flats WHMC

Sorry i did't explain myself very well it was the horizontal pin that the whole strut rotates upward on . I'M NOT SURE WHAT THE ENGINEERING TERM FOR IT IS BUT ? IT IS THE BAR IN THE CENTRAL AXLE HOLE IN THE RETRACT THAT THE HEAD OF THE MECHANISIM ROTATES ON WHEN THE STRUT MOVES UPWARD , THERE ARE NO GRUBSCREWS THERE , []IT JUST SLIDES IN AND OUT WITH NO RETENTION

Hmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!.....

I just could not believe what I'm reading. Under no circumstance should this be allowed unless if it was during the off hours. I was not there and would like to know when you test flew your airplane.

So that we do not highjack this thread, an off line update from you would be highly appreciated.

Best Regards

Ben

Would a simjet 3000 with 30lbs thrust and 3lbs weight be ok for the lightning that would mostly fly on grass fields .

Malcolm, I am still confused. Here is a descirption of all the screws in the main gear:

If you are talking about the pin that attaches the strut to the retract trunion, there are two grub screws in the trunion and two in the strut. The two screws on the trunion are only accesible with the gear down.

There is a cap head screw that retains the brass slider bar that fits in the oleo channel attaching the lower strut to the upper strut. FWIW, mine came loose in a couple of flights -- make sure they are loctited in.

There is also a grub screw in the based of the lower strut to hold the axel to the strut.

Another FWIW: the axels with this plane are made of very soft metal. You can actually grab the wheel and bend the axel with your bare hands. If you land hard, make sure to inspect this point and rebend the axels to 90 degrees or the wheel will rub on the strut, or press up against the upper wing surface when retracted and possibly not release when down gear is called for.

I think if you kept the plane very light, had very close mown grass and enough length, the engine would probably fly it. I would personally recommend a Titan or larger, however.

Delete post