Aluminum Body and Lightening

NRALIFR wrote:
It’s likely that wasn’t a typical cloud to cloud, or cloud to ground lightning strike. Helicopter triggered lightning strikes are a studied but not well understood phenomenon. The part of the helicopter struck is almost always the main or tail rotor blades. As you are probably aware, helicopters acquire a strong negative charge when they fly through air because of static charging. Strong enough that if you were to touch a hovering helicopter while standing on the ground, you could be seriously hurt or killed. I suspect the “strike” you experienced was induced when the helicopter you were flying flew into a positively charged area around a storm cloud. It was probably of lower intensity than a typical cloud to cloud or cloud to ground lightning strike, but strong enough to cause the damage you found.

:):)

You're probably right about the lightning being a different beast but the bit about getting killed by the static shock is a bit of an exaggeration. Half the Helicopter Handlers in the British Army would be dead if that were the case. The Puma I flew generates a healthy jolt I'll admit but only about 1 1/2 to 2 times that of a regular cattle fence. That aircraft is 7000kg, (14000lbs), maximum all up weight.

I know people who have been hit by a Chinook and a Puma - at different times ;-) - that say the Chinook, which has a max all up weight of over 30000lb, can throw you a few feet onto your behind but I have never heard of anyone being injured and with all the underslung load stuff Army Support Helicopters do in the British Forces, (and NATO), there would be examples.