As I understand it, there are several "zones" on an aircraft that are more likely to get hit than others (while in flight, anyway). These are the extremities of the aircraft: nose, tail, wingtips, etc. The best way to protect an aircraft from damage due to lightning strike is to provide a path on the outer surface of the aircraft for the energy to dissapate. On metal airplanes this is as simple as making sure all control surfaces are grounded (ground?) to the wing/tail, wing/tail are grounded to the fuselage, engine is grounded to engine mount, engine mount is grounded to fuselage, etc. For composite airplanes you want some kind of fine wire (aluminum) screen mesh in one of the layers closest to the outer surface. I think carbon is conductive to a certain degree but the wire will greatly improve things further even for carbon. Carbon fiber prepreg IS available with the wire mesh woven in. I'm sure it is more expensive - the other downside to the manufacturer is that it can be harder to get the stuff to lay down in a mold properly.

If you don't have some means for dissipating the energy the lightning will tend to dwell in one spot and do alot of damage. It will possibly try to attach to underlying metalic pathways: wiring, fuel lines, control cables and pushrods, etc.

Paul Klusman


In a message dated 6/1/02 11:30:21 AM EST, glcasey@adelphia.net writes:

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