In flight fires

[Jerrytex]

Wow. The heat block looks like the perfect solution. I would hate to disassemble the entire FWF to replace the firewall blanket, but I bet I could piece it in the areas near the exhaust. Might give it a try in addition to the heat shields that I am already working on. Thanks.

[Dorsal]

Well my cute little fire extinguisher just arrived from aircraft spruce. Not sure it would help in the case of an in flight engine fire but better to have and not need etc. I thought it fitting as I ordered it the day before this thread started.

[jtpitkin06]

Well, this thread certainly got me thinking. For light aircraft the threat seems to be engine fires. In large aircraft, the problem is more likely electrical fires. (I had one of those on an MD-80… not fun.)


For light aircraft, It seems it would be a simple installation to put a delivery hose over the nozzle of a fire extinguisher and direct it to the engine compartment intakes. In an emergency, one could pull the pin and squeeze the handle to flood the cowling with fire fighting agent.



Simple and cheap. Not too heavy. Replacement parts at any home center.
Something is better than nothing when you are on fire.


In Flight Engine Fire Checklist


Ignition …OFF
Mixture …IDLE CUT OFF
Fuel Valve… OFF
Throttle… FULL OPEN
Master Switch …OFF
Extinguisher Safety Pin ….PULL
Extinguisher Handle …SQUEEZE AND HOLD 10 SECONDS
Forced landing Procedure… ACCOMPLISH


John Pitkin
Greenville, TX

[Andrew G]

http://www.bydanjohnson.com/

scroll down and read the story about the Piper Sport (LSA) mishap... gheesh...

[Jerrytex]

Very sad to hear about the pilot in the Piper Sport. At first I really thought that an in flight fire was rare but if you look around, they appear to occur quite frequently. I remember awhile back there was an in flight collision involving a Cirrus. They deployed the BRS chute and basically prolonged the burning as it floated down. The plane was severly damaged and most likely would have crashed regardless but the fire definately sealed the deal. It seems that recovering after the fire has started is a real crap shoot. As other people have mentioned, prevention seems like the only thing you can really do and hope for best. Glad this thread got people thinking.

[Andrew G]

John's engine compartment idea is a very very good one... that is probably the area where the majority start... and... with a firewall, how does one put the source of the fire out from the cockpit?

John, there is a business idea in that for you, I'd buy it... heck, they get $5k for a BRS up to 1,300 lbs...

[szicree]

From what I've read, indiscriminantly blasting a fire extinguisher into the cowl with 100 mph breeze blowing in does next to nothing. I think wearing a parachute might actually provide a better chance of survival.

[jtpitkin06]

I thought of this because the airliners I flew all had extinguishers that blasted CF3BR "indiscriminately" into the cowling in the event of an engine fire. Those jet cowlings have intakes and vents blowing all kinds of air around the inside and they do it up to 550 mph.

In any case, I don't think the air in a Kitfox cowling is blowing around at anything close to 100 mph. There's a lot of junk in the way slowing the air and it all has to go out the exits on the bottom.

I see a system for a home built as being a common home extinguisher with a hose over the nozzle. The hose is routed to the engine compartment and directed to some of the more likely fire locations. "Y" fittings can be used to split the flow to two locations, (Dual Carbs?)
You could make the extinguisher removable from the hose if you need to use it in the cabin.

Having been required to practice with hand held fire extinguisher units during recurrent training I can verify the agent goes all over the place in a big cloud. Those containers hold a lot of baking soda in a small container. In a confined area like a Kitfox cowling I think it would be quite effective.

For a system that weighs only a few pounds and costs about $20 to build it just might appeal to some builders. Too bad you can't get Halon for home use anymore.

John Pitkin
Greenville, TX

[rogerh12]

I have read a lot about mechanical solutions to an in flight fire (and at least one refernce to just jumping out with a parachute). These are of course important, but there is another stratagy to dealing with an in flight fire. Land fast.

Typically, the kit fox is not flown at high altitiude, the ground is just not that far below. Everyone should practice putiing the kit fox into a high drag slip and pointing at the ground. Getting down and getting out before the fire gets too bad could be a real life saver.

How fast can you decend from 2000 feet? Everyone should know this, and if you don't, now is the time to find out and really get those numbers down.

Hope this helps

Roger