Search Results

The definition of lightning attachment zone in the standard regulatory documents have been inferred from empirical approach. In the framework of the European FULMEN program, the actual physical processes involved in a lightning strike to aircraft or helicopter are studied to improve the determination of the initial lightning attachment. In flight experiments performed in the 80’s have shown that there are two main processes which lead to a lightning strike to aircraft. The first process occurs when an aircraft flies into a region of the thunderstorm where the electric field is intense. The result is the triggering from the aircraft of preliminary discharges which lead to lightning development. The second process is the interception by the aircraft of a natural lightning channel developing in the vicinity of the aircraft. The experiment, performed at the test center of CEAT in November 1997, has been designed to simulate the initial phases of both processes.