Lightning Experimental Aircraft Kit Build Center Arizona

The Lightning EAB was designed to be an easy to build and economical to operate kit aircraft. The components used and techniques employed to build the kit do not require any special knowledge, tools, or building space. 

The kit is very complete and leaves little searching of suppliers for parts. All hardware is AN, the painted pre-welded components are 4130 steel, and all machined aluminum parts are of the T6 grade. 

Other airframe parts include: aircraft wheels and brakes from Matco, control cables from McFarlane Aviation supply, and a canopy formed by one of the Leading companies in the industry. 

This is all put together in a kit, along with a comprehensive build manual that will take the guess work out of finding components to complete your Lighting, and get you in the air quicker.

All main fiberglass assemblies are pre-formed and fabricated. This includes: Fuselage halves bonded together with bulkheads installed, wings closed with fuel tanks installed, all flight controls pre-molded and closed, cowls, spinner, canopy frames, cockpit seats, and baggage floors. 

Welded structures, such as: motor mount, spar box assembly, gear leg sockets, and various brackets, are epoxy painted and ready to install. The landing gear is machined from 7075T6 aluminum and ready to fit. Other components are machined from 6061T6 and are ready construction. 

Also supplied in the kit is raw stock 6061T6 aluminum for fabrication of longerons, pedals supports, bell-crank mounts, and other various brackets. Some fiberglass tape is also supplied for different tasks. There are a variety of components that are sourced from other aviation industry manufacturers. 

The Wheels and Brakes come from Matco Mfg (these are the 5” size and use standard 500-5 tires). The Canopy and quarter windows are supplied by Aircraft Windshields Inc. All hardware is drop shipped from Aircraft Spruce.

Building the Arion Lightning Experimental Aircraft Kit

The Lightning kit is considered a quick build kit in industry terms with the highest completion rate of any similar performance experimental aircraft kit. Some other kits are taking their builders in excess of yen years to build. Yes, the Lightning is truly a quick build kit that meets the 51% rule for Experimental Amateur Built (EAB) aircraft. 

It should take an average builder with some mechanical skills about 800 hours to complete the basic structure of the Lightning. A two car garage is best, however it has been done successfully in a single car garage. A comprehensive build manual, with good photos and simple CAD drawings, is on-line to help you through the process. 

The manual is online in the support section of the website. There is also a Lightning chat group which you can join and get ample amounts of building tips and suggestions. You can always call us here at Arion Aircraft, LLC, or any of our dealers to get the help you need in building the Lightning kit.