[Historical] Technical Lightning Reports
Report: Preventing Fuel Vapor Ignition Beneath Titanium Aircraft Skins
Fuel vapor ignition has been a cause of airplane explosions and subsequent crashes, even into the 2000s. Though not always caused by a lightning strike (any spark gap could be the cause), protecting fuel tanks from vapor ignition has always been a ...
Feasibility of Inflight Measurement of Lightning Strike Parameters
Inflight measurement of lightning strikes - how did this technology develop and how has it evolved? This NASA report from 1978 explores: Why there was a need for better data The parameters lightning strikes to be measured Types of sensing devices ...
F-15 Eagle Talk Vol. II - Aviation Technical Magazine
This fascinating magazine details flight controls and user operations for the F-15 eagle. Topics include: Flying the airplane - pilot controls Aircraft performance Propulsion system Egress Aircraft controls Performance systems ...and much more. ...
Report: The Interaction of Lightning with Airborne Vehicles
This well-written study explores many implications of lightning strikes on aircraft, and delves into not only the history of lightning strikes in aviation, but also the mechanisms behind lightning, the ways in which aircraft cause lightning, and much ...
Analysis of Electrical Transients - NASA Report, 1980
This document details the 1977 Learjet program, which analyzed, among other things, lightning-induced noise into avionics systems. Insights were also gained into instrumentation use in airborne lightning tests, shielding leakage, lightning field ...
FAA-ADS-36: Electrical Behavior of an Airplane in a Thunderstorm
The FAA-ADS-36 document, written in 1965, was important in establishing that we could not prevent airplanes from taking lightning strikes. The authors explored whether it was possible to reduce the probability that lightning would strike an aircraft. ...
NASA Publication 1008 Lightning Protection of Aircraft
NASA Publication 1008 was the first comprehensive document to cover nearly all aspects of aircraft lightning protection. Written by Andy Plumer and Frank Fisher of the General Electric High Voltage Laboratory, this document is the predecessor to the ...
MIL-B-5087B - Electrical Bonding
Many aspects of lightning protection revolve around electrical bonding requirements and keeping electrical joint resistances low. In MIL-B-5087 the 2.5 milliohm bonding requirement is enshrined. The 2.5 milliohm requirement for lightning protection ...
1972 SRI Project: A Ground-Lightning Environment for Engineering Usage
This document discusses lightning flashes to ground, data on lightning incidences and physical parameters of lightning. Several models of lightning are given, along with applications to engineering systems. Download the full document here.
NACA Technical Note 1001 Lightning Discharges to Aircraft and Associated Meteorological Conditions
NACA Technical Note 1001, produced in 1946, was the first major report in the United State documenting the meteorological conditions involved with aircraft lightning strikes. Lightning strikes mainly occurred around the freezing level and while the ...
DOT/FAA/CT-89/22 Aircraft Lightning Protection Handbook
The FAA Aircraft Lightning Protection Handbook by Andy Plumer and Frank Fisher of Lightning Technologies along with Rod Perala of EMA is a foundational document. Completed in 1989, this volume contains in-depth information regarding the lightning ...
Cianos and Pierce Ground-Lightning Environment for Engineering Usage SRI Project 1834
The Stanford Research Institute has produced a number of critically important documents on lightning and static electricity. One of the most important is A Ground-Lightning Environment for Engineering Usage by Cianos and Pierce which was completed in ...
DOT/FAA/CT-94/74 Aircraft Fuel System Lightning Protection Design and Qualification Test Procedures Development
This report from Keith Crouch of Lightning Technologies is the foundational document for lightning testing aircraft fuel system components and structures. Key information in this document include: The design, material list, and operation of the ...