I think what's missing here is perspective. It's hard to tell how much
distance separates the tower and the plane. That the tower, which would be
rather small, compared to the plane, appears as big or bigger than the plane
suggests the plane is quite far from the tower.
If the tower was well-grounded and was in the path of the lightning, there's
a good chance it would get hit.
Grounding isn't designed to ward off strikes; it's designed to channel them
safely to ground. Indeed, the lightning rods you see on barns and some rural
houses are specifically designed to attract hits (notice the sharp point) so
tha the lightning rod and not the house or barn takes the hit.
73,kelly
ve4xt
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jerry Keller" <k3bz@arrl.net>
To: "TowerTalk List" <towertalk@contesting.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 06, 2002 10:29 AM
Subject: RE: [Towertalk] lightning-slightly off topic
> A "well-grounded tower" DOESN'T get hit? I thought lightning always takes
> the EASIEST path to ground. Isn't proper grounding of the tower designed
to
> provide an easier path for lightning into the ground rather than have it
go
> thru your equipment? I would guess that the tower in the picture isn't
close
> enough to the plane to be a better ground path. Any comments? Jerry K3BZ
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: towertalk-admin@contesting.com
> [mailto:towertalk-admin@contesting.com]On Behalf Of Jon Ogden
> Sent: Sunday, October 06, 2002 8:14 AM
> To: FireBrick; TowerTalk List
> Cc: John Fleming; Kok Chen
> Subject: Re: [Towertalk] lightning-slightly off topic
>
>
> on 10/6/02 6:21 AM, FireBrick at w9ol@billnjudy.com wrote:
>
> > But you may find this interesting. You'll notice the water tower in the
> > background isn't hit.
> >
> > http://lightning.pwr.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp/lrg/temp/plane.html
>
> Amazing! I wonder how many times a year planes get hit and I wonder what
it
> does to the avionics. I know on a sailboat it can do all sorts of bad
> things to the instruments. I wonder on a plane, how the lightning gets
> dissipated. Maybe it acts strictly like a conductor since there was also
a
> discharge to ground.
>
> As for the water tower, I guess it must have been very well grounded. I
> guess it proves that good protection will help to prevent a strike from
even
> hitting you!
>
> 73,
>
> Jon
> NA9D
>
> -------------------------------------
> Jon Ogden
> NA9D (ex: KE9NA)
>
> Life Member: ARRL, NRA
> Member: AMSAT, DXCC
>
> http://www.qsl.net/ke9na
>
> "A life lived in fear is a life half lived."
>
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