Planes catching Fire

[JB35]

Is it me or is it an all to often that you get that 1 shot and your on fire ?

getting to be that almost every time you up and get some damage you catch fire .

Planes are the 110... and now the B24...

Not sure on what other planes catch fire too often but please list them.

[Karnak]

Mosquito

[Overlag]

Originally posted by Karnak
Mosquito

MOSQUITO!!!!!!!!

[Midnight]

Originally posted by Karnak
Mosquito

Umm... The Mosquito was made of wood wasn't it?... Wood burns last time I checked and most ammo in AH is either API .50s (I = incendiary = arms containing highly flammable substances that will cause a fire on impact) or HE cannons of some kind.

Why shouldn't it burn?

[Karnak]

Because it didn't?

Seriously, before you spout fireplace guesses try reading about it it.

I can show you photos of night fighter Mossies that were coated in the flaming fuel of their victims that came home, only the paint burned away.  By your reasoning the wooden airplane under the paint should have gone up like kindling.

So I can just as realistically claim that the P-47D-11 should burn because it is covered in paint too.


The fact is that the Mosquito had self sealing fuel tanks and was no more prone to fires than any other aircraft.

[Pongo]

Aluminum burns too. And much more fiercly then wood.

[peregrin]

Originally posted by Pongo
Aluminum burns too. And much more fiercly then wood.

Muuuch harder to ignite though.
--Peregrine.

PS. Solid rocket boosters for the shuttle burn aluminum.

[Pongo]

ahh.
yes it is. But so is a resin impregnated wooden airframe moving at 100s of miles per hour. The mossie is a very very survivable aircraft. Its fuel system and hydrolics(which are what really catch fire in aircraft) are very very survivable. It should not have an above average chance of burning.

[Midnight]

Originally posted by Karnak
I can show you photos of night fighter Mossies that were coated in the flaming fuel of their victims that came home, only the paint burned away.  By your reasoning the wooden airplane under the paint should have gone up like kindling.

Some fuel burning outside in the slipstream is not the same as an API round lodged in the bowls of the aircraft burning at high temperature. Even with self-sealing tanks, multiple API rounds hitting in a small area (as is most cases in AH) would destroy the sealing membrane(s)/material(s) and ignite the fuel.

[Karnak]

Midnight,

That wasn't true and is moot in AH as it is the fuel tanks that catch fire in the Mossie, particularly the AUX tank  in the fuselage.

[peregrin]

Originally posted by Pongo
ahh.
yes it is. But so is a resin impregnated wooden airframe moving at 100s of miles per hour. The mossie is a very very survivable aircraft. Its fuel system and hydrolics(which are what really catch fire in aircraft) are very very survivable. It should not have an above average chance of burning.

Burning alumimum isn't something you want to be anywhere near.  However, if you take a propane torch (for example) to aluminum the aluminum won't burn, it'll melt long before it ignites.  If I take a blow torch to resin impregnated wood, it may or may not burst into open flame, but it will burn.  That being said, fuel is what we're really concerned about burning, and so the mossie shouldn't suffer signifcantly due to being plywood.
--Peregrine.

[Overlag]

Originally posted by Midnight
Some fuel burning outside in the slipstream is not the same as an API round lodged in the bowls of the aircraft burning at high temperature. Even with self-sealing tanks, multiple API rounds hitting in a small area (as is most cases in AH) would destroy the sealing membrane(s)/material(s) and ignite the fuel.

mossies didnt burn like this in real life and shouldnt in AH either

[Pongo]

We agree peragin, and the notion of the mossie burning because its wood has been defeated.

[StarOfAfrica2]

Originally posted by Midnight
Umm... The Mosquito was made of wood wasn't it?... Wood burns last time I checked and most ammo in AH is either API .50s (I = incendiary = arms containing highly flammable substances that will cause a fire on impact) or HE cannons of some kind.

Why shouldn't it burn?

API rounds are Magnesium tipped.  They didnt contain any "flammable substances".  The magnesium sparked when it hit metal.  If it didnt hit anything flammable there was no more risk of fire than a standard bullet and it did no more damage than a standard bullet.  HE cannon rounds were different of course, but even given a wood frame I doubt they would start a blazing fire every time.  As for the B-24, I went after a formation last night.  Came up on the lead bomber, put a 1 second burst into his right wing.  Got smoke.  Slid to the left, another 1 second burst into the left wing.  Got smoke.  Then I died lol.  I was very surprised how fast the engines went on it.  (I was in Ki-84)

[peregrin]

Originally posted by Pongo
We agree peragin, and the notion of the mossie burning because its wood has been defeated.

Once the fuel was alight, I would expect a burning mossie to die quicker than say a burning 110.  The resin/wood should char, delaminate and all sorts of bad stuff under the heat of buring fuel.
--Peregrine.