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N1BZRich(at)aol.com
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 Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:04 pm Post subject: New Lightning World Record Today |
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Today will be another big day for the Lightning
Not too long ago I was in an Officer’s Club bar in NC talking with a group of active duty senior officers from various Air Force commands and a few “other special government agents”. We were having a few “brewskis” and the talk eventually turned to flying and airplanes. Being a big fan of the Arion Lightning, I just had to tell them what a beautiful and great flying airplane it is. I also had to tell them that actually the Lightning was a world record holder, having set a speed record from Savannah to San Diego. I went on to tell a shortened version of how Earl Ferguson had built his Lightning from a kit, and then went through the steps of planning and then, after several aborted attempts, actually setting a new world’s record.
For those of you that are new to the “Lightning Club” and maybe don’t know Earl, let me provide a short recap about Earl and the world record he accomplished in his Lightning, N17EF. Earl’s story is impressive – one of initiative, strength of character, and dedication to “the mission”. At age 70+, most pilots are willing to just play golf, tennis or bridge for excitement. Earl Ferguson is a little different. He is definitely a “get ‘er done” kind of guy as well as being a double cancer survivor.
Taking off from Savannah on August 6, he made stops in Quitman, MS; Athens, Midland, and EI Paso, TX; Tempe, AZ (where he spent the night since he was flying as a sport pilot and could not fly at night), and, finally landing in San Diego, CA on August 7, 2007.
The NAA approved Earl’s flight as a national record and forwarded the record to the FAI, who then awarded a world record to Earl for landplanes weighing less than 1000 kg. As a retired Navy aviator and Sport Aviation pilot, Earl’s story is an inspiration to all of us. “Sierra Hotel”, Earl.
Now back to that O Club bar conversation. Basically I recounted Earl’s story to the assembled group of Air Force aviators and they were all very impressed – just the reaction that I was looking for. But what happened next completely surprised me. When I mentioned that Earl was a retired Navy pilot the group of distinguished Air Force pilots immediately got pretty “offended” that a retired Navy pilot had a world record in the Lightning – they insisted that a retired Air Force pilot should have that honor. At that point their questions to me were fast and furious as to how they could help re-capture that record so that it could be rightfully owned by an Air Force type. Soon the group had come up with an ingenious plan that would not only beat Earl’s record, but completely shatter it. Because their plan might have some “really high level” approval problems, they all swore complete secrecy as to how we were going to set the new world record. The top secret operational plan they came up with was code named “BEWORN”, which stands for Beat Earl’s World Record Now. Operation BEWORN was put into immediate action.
A donor Lightning aircraft was soon acquired and the required modifications to the airframe were quickly completed and operational test and evaluation flights were planned and successfully flown. I really had a great time flying the modified Lightning and honing some skills that I had not used since my last flights in the F-4 Phantom II.
However, as you all know, keeping things secret is sometimes difficult, especially something as large as secret aircraft operations. Well, to make a long story at little shorter, during a recent operational test flight of the new modified Lightning, an escorting aircraft with a hired photographer in the back seat, took several photos of the test Lightning and at least one was “accidentally” leaked to the local media. I say accidentally because I believe that maybe the hired photographer that leaked the photo might have had some connection to the Navy many years ago. That was unfortunate, and explaining it to some of the “higher USAF brass” has delayed Operation “BEWORN” from being put into action until today. We finally have approval to fly the non-stop coast to coast “Operation BEWORN” flight today, 1 April 2010.
That “accidentally leaked” photo is shown below.
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EAFerguson(at)AOL.COM
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:02 pm Post subject: New Lightning World Record Today |
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Buz,
Neat April Fool story, you had me worried for a few lines.
WR Earl
In a message dated 4/1/2010 12:04:33 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, N1BZRich(at)aol.com writes:
| Quote: |
Today will be another big day for the Lightning
Not too long ago I was in an Officer’s Club bar in NC talking with a group of active duty senior officers from various Air Force commands and a few “other special government agents”. We were having a few “brewskis” and the talk eventually turned to flying and airplanes. Being a big fan of the Arion Lightning, I just had to tell them what a beautiful and great flying airplane it is. I also had to tell them that actually the Lightning was a world record holder, having set a speed record from Savannah to San Diego. I went on to tell a shortened version of how Earl Ferguson had built his Lightning from a kit, and then went through the steps of planning and then, after several aborted attempts, actually setting a new world’s record. |
[quote][b]
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mark(at)flylightning.net
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 12:14 pm Post subject: New Lightning World Record Today |
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Yes, and does Dick Cleavinger realize that someone stole his Lightning?
[quote] --
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lbmathias(at)verizon.net
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 3:02 pm Post subject: New Lightning World Record Today |
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I fell for the one today on ASFBug about a TFR being issued for the entire country; I even called Flight Service to ask about it and a couple hours later realized that it had to be an April's Fool joke.
Linda
[quote] ---
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N1BZRich(at)aol.com
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| Posted: Thu Apr 01, 2010 6:09 pm Post subject: New Lightning World Record Today |
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Stole? Pretty brash statement. What do you base that on? Can not another airplane have a similar paint job. 31Bz has been duplicated several times. But what if Dick is part of the world record? Just remember that most stories have at least some truth, and some stories are mostly true. By the way, Dick and I are in San Diego as I write this.
Buz
In a message dated 4/1/2010 4:15:14 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, mark(at)flylightning.net writes:
[quote] Yes, and does Dick Cleavinger realize that someone stole his Lightning?
[quote] --
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N1BZRich(at)aol.com
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| Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 4:51 am Post subject: New Lightning World Record Today |
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In a message dated 4/1/2010 4:02:29 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, EAFerguson(at)aol.com writes:
| Quote: | Buz,
Neat April Fool story, you had me worried for a few lines.
WR Earl
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Hey World Record Earl,
Was yesterday 1 April? I hadn't noticed. But really enjoying being here in San Diego after that non stop flight. Say, how long did it take for the NAA and FIA to complete their official world record paperwork?
Buz
[quote][b]
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EAFerguson(at)aol.com
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| Posted: Fri Apr 02, 2010 6:46 pm Post subject: New Lightning World Record Today |
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In a message dated 4/2/2010 8:51:51 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, N1BZRich(at)aol.com writes:
| Quote: | Say, how long did it take for the NAA and FIA to complete their official world record paperwork?
Buz
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Buz,
Not long, but I didn't time them. NAA probably a week and FIA another two weeks at most.
BTW, it would be easy for any regular (not LS) Lightning to cut my record time in half. Any takers???
Earl
[quote][b]
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