White Lightning/WLAC experiences
Bjorn Regnstrom
Hi !
I am posting an article written by Bo Peterson. He, his brother and I own 1/3
each of a White Lightning kit that we bought second-hand from a person
who had to give up on the project. While I have been busy raising children
and trying to get my Ph. D., Bo has started with the White Lightning.
Prompted by the current thread on the Lightning Bug he wants to share his
experiences with the kit and the White Lightning Aircraft Company so that
others may know what to expect.
Bo has previously restored an old Zlin (flies lovely!) and, in his single-room
flat, built an Acroduster. He also gives university-level courses on the
mechanics of flight so both his theoretical and practical knowledge of
aeroplanes is considerable.
Finally I want to point out that the companys secretary, Ms. Phillips, is a
service-minded and nice person who is in no way to blame. If she were
instead the designer and Mr. Jones the secretary...
Bjorn Regnstrom, bj...@me.chalmers.se
Dept. of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
Chalmers University of Technology, S-412 96 Goteborg, Sweden
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About the White Lightning aircraft
I and some friends have bought a kit for the White Lightning from a man
who himself failed to complete the work. Before buying the kit we talked
with Nick Jones, the designer of the aircraft and responsible for the White
Lightning Aircraft Corporation which sells the kit, who promised us the
same support as other builders.
The preassembly and condition of the kit.
The aircraft is made of epoxy resin and glass fibre. However, the round main
spar of the wing is of carbon fibre. The manufacturing and assembly of the
epoxy composites are made by a subcontractor. The factory moulded parts
are glued together to a high extent before the delivery to the customer.
However, many parts are poorly moulded in the following way: The glass
fibre cloth is not layed up in a smooth way - instead there are many
wrinkles. There are many large air bubbles ( ranging up to 50 mm ), in
several places the fibre glass is not wetted through, several parts have been
removed from the mould before curing and have in this way lost the
desired shape. Several parts have been glued or covered with laminate
without proper surface treatment (grinding).
The parts are claimed to be jig mounted and drilled at the factory. However,
in the fuselage (bottom) the bulkheads and wing spars are tilted in a
nonsymmetric way. The wingspar holes in the fuselage are out of position
( about 5 mm ). As a consequense of this one can not construct the
important horisontal reference plane from which many measures are
defined. Furthermore, if this was the only error, the wingsetting angles for
the two wings will be different ( about 2 degrees). However, the wingspar
holes in the left wing are also out of position ( about 8 mm ). In our
particular airplane the wings can not be bolted on using the predrilled holes
as told in the advertisement. In fact only the right wing can be fitted with
bolts at all. The wingbolt holes for the left wing are much too far apart
( about 10 mm ). There is no way to resolve this matter without going back
to the computations made at the design level.
The engine mount and controlsystem are prewelded but lack
welding certificate. As the FAA would never have passed the project
otherwise the items had to be inspected by people at the organization for
certifying aircraft welders and weldings. They of course constitute the
highest authority/expertise in this area in my country. An oral statement
was given at the return of the items: These weldings are highly
unprofessionally made and as far as the controlsystem is concerned I would
revoke the license for the welder if he was under my jurisdiction. The
controlsystem ( which would have benefitted a lot had it been jiggmounted
before welding ) had to be improved in several places. A procedure like this
can easily cost more than building new items.
Documentation, drawings and information.
Although very few drawings and building instructions were missing I was
asked to buy a completely new set. However, the new set did not contain
most of the material I was really missing and constituting the only reason
for ordering anything at all. Here it should be pointed out that I had marked
exactly what I had and what I did not have on a special list. Since the date of
order - 901129 - I have asked many times to obtain what I have payed for -
but in vain. My understanding is that one of the drawings, which Nick
Jones is unable to deliver, in a relatively awkward way shows how to
reinforce the fuselage with fibre glass. However the surprising fact is that
Nick Jones - the designer - is unable to
1. Deliver the drawings
2. Explain the work needed in any other way.
3. Explain for which kit numbers this matter is relevant ( the
manufacturing procedures have changed ).
The existing drawings are of a somewhat too large size ( 610 x 915 mm ) to be
practical to handle. They are numbered in an obscure way. This together
with the lack of comprehensible building instructions makes it difficult to
organize the work. The drawings lack many measures which would be
helpful in order to check the work. This together with the low quality of the
work at the prefabrication level could produce a real nightmare ( see above).
Many interesting items such as for example the seats are not shown on any
drawing. This might make it difficult to realize how really difficult it would
be to squeeze in a person over 1850 mm in length ( aplicable to quite a few
people. The round wing spar is the problem). This also leads to less
desirable crash worthiness.
The building instructions are not edited or organized in any reasonable way.
My understanding is that they are not revised since 1987 although they
contain really remarkable misprints. There are several totally useless
remarks such as: The introduction letting us know that now we are really
going to learn something - which is totally wrong. The little advise to call
Nick if there is any problem - apperently forseeing this. The building
instructions add very little to what can be discerned from the drawings.
The White Lightning Aircraft Corporation does not give any service
instructions revisions or any comment about their aircraft after the kit has
been sold. This is clearly remarkable since the aircraft does have very high
speed capability and constitutes a complex system which is bound to give
rise to problems of various kind. This we know from far better products.
Correspondence.
When we bought the kit we obtained several letters from the White
Lightning Aircraft Corporation pointing out various problems and
recommending the builders to contact various people to resolve these.
Although the matters were mostly badly explained in the letters I have not
obtained the very least comment in any of these disturbing matters after
many attempts. In fact Nick Jones has stated that he is not the best person to
answer inquiries about the aircraft which he has designed. He has instead
recommended to ask another company (the above mentioned
subcontractor) which will take a charge for answering. To this idea I have
several objections:
1. I have already payed for obtaining all drawings and instructions
necessary for building the aircraft. As explained above I have
not obtained them ( although being charged ) after several years
of repeated attempts.
2. The subcontractor is responsible for several of the inferior
undertakings at the manufacturing level. It would be to much
to pay them a second time - now for straightening out their
mistakes. Besides they don't even answer my letters.
3. In my opinion Nick Jones is responsible and I will not pay a
single cent before he delivers the material I have payed for.
In order to exemplify the wonderful commentary I have obtained while
asking about data for the fibreglass used ( uni- and bi- directional ) I give
the following. After giving partial but not the essential data about the
bidirectional only Nick writes: " I suggest for more information that you
contact someone familiar with fiberglass." Pressing the issue further, about
surface weight for fibreglass cloth used in the aircraft, we were told. " Can't
you look it up in a paper or book with tables?", suggesting that surface
weight is an intrinsic property of E-glass rather than a geometric property of
the fibrecloth. I still don't know the surface weight of the unidirectional
one. Several attempts in explaining the matter, from the White Lightning
Aircraft Corporation, have actually failed or turned out to be wrong.
Accidents.
The White Lightning has been involved in two fatal accidents in the US and
by now the FAA has finished their investigations. Both accidents happened
while the aircrafts were operated in the low-speed region. One of the pilots
had made comments suggesting difficulties in handling the aircraft at low
speed. It is not an easy matter to investigate and correct the handling
properties of a high speed aircraft. In order to assess this one must, among
other things, induce the proper initial conditions for entering the flight
mode with problems. This requires a very qualified pilot. One also has to
find the aerodynamical remedy for the problem. I am very worried about
the White Lightning Aircraft Corporation's capability to handle this matter
based on demonstrated capability in other areas.
Conclusion.
I think that the White Lightning is a basically good aircraft about which I
also have heard positive comments from pilots. Its performance data are, if
correct, exceptionally good. To beat it in speed one needs a very large engine
which is very uneconomical.
The aircraft kit we bought second hand for nearly scrap value ( the price was
set by the seller and not in any way discussed by us ) was a story which cost
the first buyer nearly 30000 US$ and a crashed self esteem. I know from
private communication that other builders share my experience and would
appreciate if the company eventually assumes its responsibility.
Some of you might have read about tlu...@aol.com (T Lump)'s visit at
the Lightning Bug "Factory". The Lightning Bug is another venture by Nick
Jones. From Mr. Lumps writing we can discern the root of the problem. My
understanding is that the people around the White Lightning and the
Lightning Bug are finding serious problems in developping their products
to a state of readiness to sell as finished products. Meanwhile we should
leave them alone so they can get their work done. Besides they are
apparently no businessmen and don't like people (see the writing by Mr.
Lump).
In order to help other builders ( or presumptive ones ) in similar situations
and perhaps worse I suggest that we openly discuss disturbing matters like
the cases above. We should also try to get help from EAA. This organization
also has a responsibility for us poor customers. It is not fair only to write
in the Sport Aviation about beautiful airplanes without mentioning the many
times very serious difficulties behind the scene.
Finally I would like to say that there are many companies with good
products, good building instructions and people who are qualified to answer
questions. If we buy their products we don't have to solve construction
problems ourselves or pay somebody else to do it.
Bo Peterson
T Lump 51
Regnstrom) writes:
Well, suffice to say, no 'netters are going to be buying any White
Lightnings or Lightning Bugs. This fills me with a feeling of inner
peace.
BTW, I'm not Mr. Lump. T Lump 51 is my computer code name! But, my
friends do call me Lump --- without the Mr.
morris.ma...@gmail.com
Cheers Darren
662...@gmail.com
> Hi bjorn, sorry to hear about your experiences with the WL. What are your plans for the kit now. Please contact me if you are interested to sell it.
> Cheers Darren
wess...@gmail.com
pyo...@philyoder.com
dtli...@gmail.com
> You have s complete kit? For sale? Location?
It has not flown for a few years due to the death of it's owner but has been stored inside a hangar at Las Cruces, NM. I looked over it last weekend and its in quite good condition. It needs a wash and would look tidier without the race decals on it. The carpet in the front seats needs to be tidied up a bit but all considered, the aircraft is in reasonable condition.
If anyone might be interested, pm/email me and I can provide more details.
Dave
