In flight fires

[Paul Z]

FYI ....

For those of you who have not yet had a fuel leak inside the aircraft of a aircraft, don't put anything on the floor that can absorb and hold fuel (including insulation). Beter yet, install a small screen on the bottom fabric to let fuel out, if nessisary. The kitfox has a great deal of fuel passing though the cabin, beter safe then .... well you know.

Roger

And believe me the plastic header tank can leak! I have posted some photos of my tank prior to replacing it!

[rogerh12]

A few things about heat wrap. Yes, I use it and it works. I use it for several reasons, such as not wanting to melt my close fitting fiberglass cowling, and it protects me from burns when working on my engine hot (zenith 601) However, having said that, don't use it unless you really need it. It does increase the heat on the pipes and does crack them (guess how I know).
When they crack, you can't tell until the crack is really bad and spewing hot exhast, then it might soon be too late..

A better idea is to heat wrap the things next to the pipe, if they can be burned or heat damaged if the pipe cracks. Also, check your exhuast pipes on a regular bases, use a mirror if neccesary.

Hope this helps
Roger

[szicree]

I recall being told by the guy who made my RV-4 exhaust that the heat wraps will wreck the tubes. Better to use the metal heat shields that stands a bit off the pipe.

[DesertFox4]

+ 1 to what Roger and Steve said about the exhaust wrap. Heat shields work with little or no unintended consequences. Recent reading on Van's Airforce website adds to the idea that the down side may outweigh the benefits.
Premature failure of the exhaust system seems to be the general consensus.

If choosing that route increased vigilance very well may be needed to keep the exhaust system in safe operating condition.

[Jerrytex]

Thanks to all for the heads up on the heat wrap. I'll start engineering some heat shields instead.

[BigJohn]

Has anyone heard of any issues on Ceramic Coating your Exhaust, I know that it really cuts down on the heat on the 2 stroke engines and it should do the same on the 912 as far as more protection and lowering the external heat temp around the exhaust area. I believe I heard it could be done for about $200.00 ?

[wannafly]

Here is a very cool material that is used on racecars . It is very light weight and is quiet amazing. It may be useful for some of the application being discussed here. I plan on using it if I ever redo my firewall. Watch the video. Let me know what you think. like you wouldn't...

www.heatblok.com

[War Eagle]

I went with the ceramic option. It cost me about $250 with shipping. Looked really nice. Thought I had the cats meow.

See before and after pictures.

The sales pitch was to reduce cowling heat.

Didn't last 40 hours and it was all burnt off.

Now I have a 914 and the exhaust can get pretty toasty but it was a complete waste of money.

[chefwarthog]

It is a very interesting product Wannafly, do you know the $ of this insulation?

[DesertFox4]

Mic , check out Dan's build site. He's already installed the Heatbloc on his new Model 4. Did a beautiful job on the install. See photos here. Looks like a viable product for this discussion. We'll know more when he is flying soon.
http://www.azshowersolutions.com/Engine10.html

Make sure you click on "Next" at the bottom of Dan's page to see more photos of the install of the Heatbloc.