Lightning hazards..

A couple of recent posts have picqued my interest again about the subject of lightning.

Probably anyone who has flown very much CL stunt at all has been caught in a potentially dangerous situation, wherein they are getting zapped a bit from the lines.

When it happened to me, (and my good friend Mark Bowen) the stunt flight IMMEDIATELY went to 4' level flight for the duration!

Mark actually wrapped some wire around the handle to contact his lines and he said that fixed his zapping problem. I'm not sure it didn't just make him a better ground!

I know how the air can get charged. Many years ago I was fishing at Nogal Lake, in the mountains, and suddenly some clouds blew in and the metal fly rod I was using became a pretty good lightening rod. This was a large lake and we were sitting on metal folding chairs, and we started getting shocks on our butts (contact points). Just before we had the good sense to head for the truck, my brother's long blonde hair actually started standing up, like he had his hand on a Van de Graaf generator. Later I heard that hair standing up has been observed as a precursor to being struck by lightning!

Lightning can be a hazard, even in clear air.

I'd be interested in relevant comments and antecdotes about this subject, which potentially affects all CL flyers.

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"The other day when I was walking through the woods, I saw a rabbit standing in front of a candle making shadows of people on a tree." -Steven Wright

Larry,
I have had the same thing happen many times while flying on extremely overcast days or even in light mist. I finally started making sure my hand was grounded to the leads to the plane. This seemed to stop it completely. Before doing this, the static electricity would simply build up strength, until it finally could jump from the leads to my hand. If lightning should hit the plane or lines, I fear it would be a meltdown, and they would just cover me up right there.
Lee

Larry, I had one of those near death experiences once upon a time.
One weekend, long ago,a few of us went out to Guildford Airport near Perth Western Australia where we were allowed to use a small field alongside the narrow road that was the old way in.

Above us were clear blue skies, but far, far in the distance, maybe 15 or 20 miles away, we could see a line of black storm clouds that were flickering with lightning. It seemed quite obvious to me at the time that there was no risk from the storm in the distance. Or was there?
I can't remember the plane that I was flying that day, but I can remember some details of the flight with awful clarity. Just after getting the plane into the air, and halfway through a wingover I got an electrical jolt that nearly fried my brains. It hurt, and frightened the Hell out of me. Not wanting a repeat dose, I very rapidly ditched the plane.

Although I didn't see anything untoward, one of the kids there had yelled at me just as I got zapped. He had seen something that I had missed. Usually, I flew with a metal, wheel handle, but this day I was using my friend Geoff Barnes' plastic Schuco-Hegi adjustable handle. What the kid said that he had seen, was a spark running down between the two wires from the plane to me, finally jumping from the lines on to my hand. I noticed that part.

Before I flew, I was sure that thunderstorm activity so far in the distance could not possibly have been any risk to me. After getting zapped I reconsidered that view. Now, if there is even the hint of electrical storms, I will leave the control line flying to braver souls. I would recommend that you all do likewise.

You are a lucky man Charlie. What many of us fail to realize is that the earth is a very large ball, and 25 miles is not that far in the scheme of mother nature ( a real bi*&^). Any dust in the air and those particles will be polarized by any magnetic lines near the front. Cross those magnetic lines in a perpendicular fashion as we do with our control lines, and you now have a magneto or step up coil and wham, you are part of the system. The only insulation from magnetic lines of flux is great distance. If you can see or hear the storm front, you are close enough to get zapped. Not that it will happen, but very likely can, and that should be enough warning. It has happened to us flying at a park in Madison, AL. We could feel the charge in the air, and hair standing up. Went home and flew later in the week.

Guys I cannot beleive that all this info is on here tonight.I just got myself a really good zap tonight.As Charlie mentioned I had the same black clouds way of in the distance so I was not to concerned.I fueled up and took of ,a few drops of rain where falling but no problem.I did my flat laps and then up into my reverse wing over and at about 45 degs I started getting some really good jolts that really got my attention.The crazy part is I still exited inverted then thought I have to land but I did not want to go back up to upright the plane.Well the Cardinal will do a pretty tight outside I found out when you really want it to.Within 2 1/2 laps of the reverse wing over I had it sitting on the ground again.I quickly rolled up the lines ect and got out of there.It felt about the same as a 40KV zap out of a coilpack ignition except I could not let go.I had to fly across before it quit zapping.I guess it is static in the air and I was ground?

I work in forest fire detection and suppression. We pay very close attention to lightning storms. Here in Florida we routinely have wildfires started by strikes that contact the ground at 12-15 miles outside the thundercell perimeter and it is not unheard of for strikes to reach 30 miles outside of the larger cells. Day before yesterday, we had one cell that topped out at 59,000 feet and was producing close to 100 strikes per minute. Cells of this type are fairly common here in the Sunshine State.

A good rule of thumb for lightning: If you can see it, flee it!!

I think we are, or should be talking about the problem of static electriciy build up here and not actual lightning problems.(not that it wouldn't be one).
I have had the stactic shock just on extremely overcast days and with very high humidity. I never considered not flying after I figured out what was happening. I simply ground my hand to the lines to prevent static buildup. Its kind of like having a regulator on a air line. You never feel a little static going thru your body, its the buildup that will knock the @@@@ outta ya.
On the other hand. If there is lightning in the area, I stay home and find other means of entertainment.
Lee

LAST EDITED ON Jul-13-04 AT 11:20 AM (CDT)
 
It's not the STATIC electricity that hurts, it's when that static charge gets a closed circuit and is now current. ZAP!! By grounding the lines early, the charge is dissapated into the ground, but if it is a very large buildup, you will feel it and it takes milliseconds to build up. Remember how your auto ignition system works, well it's the same thing only on a very huge scale, miles not inches.
We are so small and the earth is so big. Storms cover hundreds to thousands of square miles, so 10 to 25 miles is not that great a distance for the electrical charge building up in the air. Dry air, dust, moisture, all get polarized and thus charged. Polarized particles are called plasma and that is what conducts the charge. Guess what we are made up of? Hydrocarbons. Carbon is a great conductor and we smell like bacon when burned.
It seems we can't emphsize this enough. Thunder clouds in the distance, be very aware.

Look how many golfers get zapped!

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"I saw Eternity the other night,
Like a great ring of pure and endless light,
All calm, as it was bright;
And round beneath it, Time, in hours, days, years,
Driv'n by the spheres
Like a vast shadow moved, in which the world
And all her train were hurled."
-Henry Vaughan (1622-1695)

Yes, but not enough of them. All that grass should be used for control line and free flight.!!!! Note: no happy face, A'hm serious.

HIGH 5's to Ty.. Lee

I have had a lot of experience with static shocks while flying in the summer in Miami. When the weather is clear, no problem. When a thunderstorm approaches, I begin to get shocked while flying. The air becomes charged as the storm approaches. The lines collect static from the air. The charge builds up on the lines, and when it gets high enough, it arcs from the lines to my hand. My answer is to wrap a wire around the lines and the grip of the handle. This prevents a charge from building up on the lines. So far I have not had an arc jump from my body to the ground. As far as lightening goes, when the storm gets that close, it's time to pack it in.

"SAVE ALL THE PIECES"-Phil Brown

LAST EDITED ON Jul-17-04 AT 10:06 AM (CDT)
 
It takes about 20,000. volts to jump a spark 1/8". Static build up in the storm front is not high enough to jump a 500 foot discharge lightening bolt to the ground thats why you don't see any lightening until the storm gets closer. There is static build up in the clouds 20 miles from the storm front and when the metal control lines go up into the sky like an antenna it picks up the high voltage and will discharge it to ground if it can. If your hand is 1/2" form making contact with the metal control lines the spark that jumps from the metal to your hand is 20,000. x 4 = 80,000. volts. The closer your hand is to the metal the shorter the spark will be and the lower the discharge voltage will be. That is why you could not feel the shocks when your were making contact with the metal with your hand because there was no spark from the metal to your hand. You can get the same effect from a spark jumping through your shoes to ground. High voltage is strange stuff, it has a mind of its own, it has been a hobby of mine for 20 years. We sometimes have heat lighting here in the summer and there are NO CLOUDS in the sky at all. When heat lightening is observed the sun is ususally very bright, temp is usually very hot, humidity is usually very low, it is usually dead calm wind, there are no clouds at all for as far as you can see, there is no rain, it is usually between 12 noon and 3pm, it happens the hottest part of the day, lightening appears to come from no where in the sky. 1971 when I was a college student at SIU Carbondale Illinois July about 1:30 pm we had an unreal heat lightening storm. There was no clouds, no rain, no wind, very hot day and lightening bolts were ever 2 seconds for 15 minutes. Lightening was everywhere, there was no delay of several seconds between the lightening flash and thunder. It sounded like a WWII artillery attack. We sometimes have heat lightening here in Tennessee but I have never seen it last more than a minute of so here. I have often thought of attaching a ground wire to my control lines and let it hang down and touch the ground as I fly. I did an experement once with a kite about 1972. I flew a kite on a 100 ft long copper wire with the wire attached to a florescent light bulb. A storm front was approaching and was probably 10 miles away. The florescent light bulb would flash every time I saw lightening in the storm 10 miles away. As the storm got closer the florescent light bulb flashed brighter and brighter each time there was lightening in the distance. When the storm was about 3 miles or so away the florescent light bulb glowed all the time like it was getting a continious voltage. A few minutes later the wind picked up, the kite crashed, it started to rain and I went in the house. I have heard people that were struck by lightening say they felt a static electric charge tingle just seconds before they got struck. The static electric charge would make the hair on their arms stand up before they got struck by lightening. An NE-2 neon light bulb is very sensitive to any voltage over 55 volts and will light up if you hold it in your fingers and scoot your feet as you walk across the living room carpet. I think an NE-2 neon light can probably be attached to the metal control line cables as a lightening detector. If the NE-2 lights up that means there is static electricity in the air. I think this might be worth experementing with.

Gary lives in the South. When a southerner says, "hey guys, watch this", it's usually the last words he ever mutters.

>Gary lives in the South. When a southerner says, "hey guys,
>watch this", it's usually the last words he ever mutters.
>

Careful; Gary isn't the only one on this board from the South. Y'hear?
--Ray (displaced Southerner)
Minnesotamodeler

>Gary lives in the South. When a southerner says, "hey guys,
>watch this", it's usually the last words he ever mutters.
>

I am originally from Mt. Carmel Illinois. Grew up there, went to grade school, high school, college there. The S in Illinois is silent some people pronounce it (Illinoi-noise). Not sure if Mt Carmel Ill. is considered to be in the south or not you might want to ask Lenord about that. During the civil war Illinois was considered to be the north. Lived in Lansing MI once, lived in Tempe AZ for 6 years. Been in TN for 25 years and would love to move someplace else but not sure where. No crime here. Unemployment is less than 1/2% here. Work is good, pay is good, prices are low, no state income tax either. People in TN are good friendly people that would do anything to help a strainger. I can't say anything good about the weather in Tennessee, when the wind blows someplace else it SUCKS in Murfreesboro Tennessee.

You don't get any further south than me unless you live in Key West.

I really like the neon bulb idea. These are commonly used to discharge static voltages anyway, and wouldn't be difficult to integrate into a handle.

Now, we all know that a lightning rod functions by providing a discharge path for air charges. That is, it is not generally intended to be struck by lightning; instead it bleeds off charges, and thereby prevents the strike. (Yes, I know they do get struck sometimes, and usually have a pretty heavy duty ground strap on them!).

Anyway, the point here is that perhaps the idea of adding a ground wire between the two lines, and touching the flyers hand may not be too bad an idea after all. It might prevent your getting struck.

But the idea of the blinking neon bulb warning you and discharging 60V and above is a good one.

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"Power outage at a department store yesterday, Twenty people were trapped on the escalators." -Steven Wright

I used to sell test lights for mechanics that had a small neon bulb in the handle. It's about 1 1/4 inches long and would fit into the handle of most control line handles.
Living in the South is not the same as being from the south. I too am from elsewhere, but have lived in Memphis, Texarkana, (TX & AR) Pensacola, St. Louis. These are the south to me. I am from northern Nevada originally. I am now in my 10th state. I think I'll stay here or else move to Carson City or Tucson. My wife brought up the part of moving to Tucson four years ago. I could not believe my ears. Oh joy. The humidity down here is too much, I hate grits and "sweeeeteee". Yuck.
But it is a given, any time you hear a guy/dude/redneck/goodoleboy in the South say, "hey fellas, watch this", it is the last thing he'll ever say. The papers are full of these incidents. Remind me to tell you about the twins in St. Louis, both drunk, and one says to the other, "watch this" and stuck his tongue on the grid of a bug zapper. Now he just goes, "syugh wahhat tiuuse".