Register
Aircraft

Arion Lightning LS-1: Not for the Masses

How about this for a challenging design concept? Start with a two-seat speedster with fighter-like handling, slow it down to meet the LSA 120-knot speed limit without excising any of the structure necessary for the stresses of the higher speed, then jump through the ASTM hoops to turn it into a production machine. That is exactly what Arion Aircraft did with its Lightning LS-1, an LSA that is finger-on-the trigger responsive in flight and among the fastest LSAs out there. The Lightning is one of the few LSAs that is not intended to be used as a primary trainer. “Although a very few buyers have learned to fly in their Lightnings, we did not design it for flight training,” explained Arion’s Nick Otterbach, one of the lead designers of the airplane.

Rick Durden
Verified

How about this for a challenging design concept? Start with a two-seat speedster with fighter-like handling, slow it down to meet the LSA 120-knot speed limit without excising any of the structure necessary for the stresses of the higher speed, then jump through the ASTM hoops to turn it into a production machine. That is exactly what Arion Aircraft did with its Lightning LS-1, an LSA that is finger-on-the trigger responsive in flight and among the fastest LSAs out there.

The Lightning is one of the few LSAs that is not intended to be used as a primary trainer. “Although a very few buyers have learned to fly in their Lightnings, we did not design it for flight training,” explained Arion’s Nick Otterbach, one of the lead designers of the airplane.

Rick Durden

Senior Editor Rick Durden has written for Aviation Consumer since 1994 and specializes in aviation law. Rick is an active CFII and holds an ATP with type ratings in the Douglas DC-3 and Cessna Citation. He is the author of The Thinking Pilot’s Flight Manual or, How to Survive Flying Little Airplanes and Have a Ball Doing It, Vols. 1 & 2.