Ronald Cortes /Contributor Show More Show Less 2 of724. On bottom right is an exposed patch of the expanded aluminum foil that protects the plane from lightning strikes. Also, if you have any desire for a little aerobatics, the glasair is the way to go.Ted Bain works on the instrument panel of his Glasair III LP airplane, built with lightning protection technology developed with a grant from NASA. The lancair may be slightly more efficient for the horsepower but if you are a larger pilot I think you would like the Glasairs cockpit better. The lancair is a good airplane but its not as strong as the glasair.
Ronald Cortes /Contributor Show More Show Less 6 of7Bain’s plane prepares for takeoff from Boerne Stage Airfield to Gillespie County Airport outside Fredericksburg. It was built with an innovative lightning protection technology (hence the LP in the name) designed to shield the craft from direct strikes. Ronald Cortes /Contributor Show More Show Less 5 of7Ted Bain poses with his Glasair III LP kitplane.
“I remember seeing an Air Force recruiting poster and saying, ‘That’s me.’ When I fly commercial, I’m the guy with his nose pressed to the window looking out.”On ExpressNews.com: This airplane house in Texas is the owner's childhood dreamCommercial jets have an outer shell made of aluminum, which is an efficient conductor of electricity. In a Glasair II RG prop plane (the predecessor to the Glasair III) that he built himself.“Since I was a kid, I always wanted to fly,” said Bain, 68, who retired from clinical medicine in 2003 and is now a consultant on impact biomechanics, or how people are injured in vehicle crashes. “It’s fun to talk to them about the technology.”Bain, who grew up in central British Columbia and graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada (often called the West Point of Canada), piloted CF-104 Starfighter jets with the Canadian Air Force and, later, Kiowa helicopters in the Air Force Reserves.After leaving the military, he practiced emergency medicine, often flying to hospitals in rural B.C. A lot of pilots get get-home-itis and will take unnecessary chances, and that can lead to accidents.”The plane is something of a celebrity among a certain segment of the general aviation community.“I do get noticed at airports, mostly by people who have some knowledge of the history of Glasair planes,” he said. “But it’s comforting to know that if I get into a bad situation, that I’ve got some protection. Ronald Cortes /Contributor Show More Show Less“I try to stay away from situations where there’s lightning around when I fly,” Bain said.
A small square of the tightly woven, gold-colored foil is visible on the side of the fuselage, where it was left exposed by the manufacturer.As thin as it is, the foil can harmlessly dissipate a lightning strike away from the fuselage — and the pilot. “We planned to sell it as an option on the Glasair III.”After two years of testing, the company developed a technology that involved a thin layer of expanded aluminum foil sandwiched between layers of fiber-reinforced plastic. You can make a plane with compound curves much easier than trying to bang them out of metal.”Bain’s Glasair III LP was developed in the early 1990s by Stoddard-Hamilton Aircraft, an Arlington, Washington-based company known for its build-it-yourself airplane kits.Because the business never generated the kind of capital needed to develop lighting protection, it was never on the company’s to-do list, said Ted Setzer, the co-founder and now retired former president of Stoddard-Hamilton.Then, in the 1980s, NASA began awarding grants to small businesses to develop new commercial technologies.“We applied and got a grant to develop lightning protection for composite planes,” Setzer said. “It’s also easier to manipulate. “When you’re flying one of these planes, you’ll do whatever it takes to dodge a thunderstorm.”So if composite planes are so dangerous, why do airplane manufacturers make them?“Composite is both stronger and lighter than metal,” Bain said. And plastic is no match for a lightning strike.“I’ve seen the tail of a composite plane hit by lightning while on the tarmac, and the plastic had all but melted to the ground,” Bain said.
The renamed Glasair Aviation did not offer lightning protection as an option.Bain bought the plane from the newly reorganized company in 2002 for $120,000, which included an installed turbo-charged engine, a second, recently overhauled engine worth $65,000, a propeller and all instrumentation.Today, Bain houses his 26-year-old Glasair III in a hanger at the Boerne Stage Airfield, taking to the skies almost every weekend. A new owner purchased the firm’s assets and brought the company out of bankruptcy in 2001. It suffered only minor cosmetic damage.On ExpressNews.com: San Antonio pilots fly in all-female air race made famous by Amelia EarhartDespite the technology’s promise, few pilots saw the need — or had the money — to shell out an extra $14,000 to $15,000 for the option on a kit that only cost about $30,000 (not including necessities such as the engine and instrument panel), Setzer said.Although Setzer said it had nothing to do with the failure of the lightning protection option, Stoddard-Hamilton declared bankruptcy in 1999.
It’s very relaxing in that regard.”As for the lightning protection technology, Glasair Aviation eventually transferred it to Cirrus Aircraft, based in Minnesota, where it has been built into between 8,000 and 10,000 planes, Setzer said.“Ted’s plane is an aviation artifact that’s valuable because it became the basis for protecting thousands of pilots’ lives worldwide,” he said.Richard A. I’m looking at the ground passing beneath me and the clouds up ahead. “I’m paying attention to what I’m doing, but I’m not thinking about work or personal issues. Once in the air, he was careful to avoid the turbulence often found near the puffy cumulus clouds that blocked the way — “I hate turbulence,” he said — and made a smooth landing at the end of both legs of the journey.“It sounds strange, but when I’m flying my mind is mostly blank,” Bain said. On a recent Saturday, he checked and double-checked the aircraft before taking off for a quick, 15-minute or so jaunt between the Boerne airfield and the Gillespie County Airport outside Fredericksburg.
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