Lightning light sport aircraft - MidWest LSA Expo September 10, 11, 12th.

Arion's Lightning borrows from Esquale, RVs, Dynamic, Lancair, and Toxo; such idea-sharing is a tradition in aircraft design. With a gross weight limitation, no wheels pants, vortex generators (or a coming extended wing) and the right prop, Lightning can be built and flown by a Sport Pilot. A standard measuring stick for aircraft design is the ratio of minimum speed to maximum speed. Powerful jets like the Blue Angels' F/A-18 (along with a government credit card to fuel them) can perform in airshows from 120 mph to 700 mph, almost a 6:1 ratio.

But for airplanes you and I can afford, a ratio greater than 3:1 is good with 4:1 being the holy grail. In my experience, a 4:1 ratio is rare; a LSA that stalls at 40 knots and tops out at 120 knots represents only 3:1. 

I flew the Arion Aircraft Lightning. Yielding a fine experience with quick yet stable handling, short takeoffs and easy landings plus mild stalls, Lightning also proved a handsome performer.

Nick Otterback reports flying Lightning to better than 200 mph and I held around 40 mph in slow flight. Even assuming instrument error at slow speeds, that's still well beyond the 4:1 ratio. Check Lightning performance specs.

In this post I want to focus on two alternative directions. First is the Arion Aircraft Lightning XS, a kind of big brother to the Lightning LS, which can be flown as a SLSA, ELSA or EAB kit. You don't need a medical to fly LS.

You will for the XS (or "Excess") and you will have to build it, but the newest variation from Arion promises to be a hot performer realizing the potential this all-American design has always possessed.

The Mount Vernon Outland Airport, serving pilots from Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Lexington, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, Montgomery, Dallas, Fort Work Oklahoma City, Kansas City Wichita Des Moines, and Oshkosh during the Midwest LSA Expo.