Author Topic: Fuel tank fires when out of fuel (Read 695 times)

DaddyAck · « **Reply #15 on:** March 30, 2005, 09:37:43 AM »

I thought that historically if you did get a fire like that you could cut the engine and extinguish it in a dive. Maby I am wrong.

sullie363 · « **Reply #16 on:** March 30, 2005, 12:17:01 PM »

I would guess that would be the case with some types of fires.

Kweassa · « **Reply #17 on:** March 30, 2005, 09:30:52 PM »

IIRC, I read that cutting the engine and extinguishing the fire with a steep dive, is just a myth.

If a fire is caused by the fuel tanks being ignited, then it's the fuel that is burning, and cutting the engines would have no real effect in stopping the fire. (maybe it could help slow down the spreading of the fire?)

So the only way to stop the fire is to stop the fuel mixing up with the oxygen to keep the fire going, and conventional diving speeds of WW2 planes just weren't that high enough to cut off the oxygen flow to the fuels. The flames might temporarily simmer down due to high speeds, but as soon as the plane hits level and slows down, the fire will grow again.

However, in other cases, the flames would die out naturally.

Small, local fires caused by a hit to the hydraulics systems would ignite the oil. After all of the oil in the local hydraulics has been burned out, the flame would die out. I've seen a few guncams where a plane has been hit in the wings by a cannon shell, and a small local fire springs up, but dies out quickly - indicating probably the hydraulic oil of the landing gears placed in the wings, have been burned away.

Or HE shells hitting canvas surfaces and setting flames was also common. I've seen some guncams of German planes hitting Hurricanes with cannons, and its canvas was set on fire. Sometimes it's uncontrollable, other times the flame just eats away some of the canvas, and then just dies out - sort of like when if you burn paper, sometimes it would turn into a fireball, and other times it just dies out after a small flame.

DaddyAck · « **Reply #18 on:** March 31, 2005, 04:16:01 PM »

So how does one stop this devastaeing engine fire. there has to be a way. I could of swore that the dive in a 17 would kill the flames. I guess I was wrong, though I have not fully researched it yet.

Kweassa · « **Reply #19 on:** March 31, 2005, 06:10:07 PM »

There is no way. People bail when their plane is on fire, not try to put it out.

As for four-engined buffs, IIRC they had internal flame extinguishers installed at the engines, so if the engines catch fire the flames could be controlled and put out. However, if a fuel tank catches fire... they have to bail.

FTJR · « **Reply #20 on:** March 31, 2005, 08:58:55 PM »

Many years ago, I read a true story about a Wellington bomber being attacked by a night fighter.

The first pass cause the left engine to burn the crew shut down the engine and extinguished the flames. After a few minutes they could see that the flames were begining to take hold. The fire extinguisher was depleted so the engineer decided he would crawl across the wing, insert the small extinguisher and try to put out the flames.

So he spilled his chute inside the aeroplane and with one crew member feeding out his line he crawled out onto the wing by punching holes through the fabric. This is all at 16k (or whatever Wellingtons cruised at ).

He got the bottle into the engine casing and he thought that he did the job. However the Night Fighter picked that moment to come back and the manuovering of the buff caused the engineer to fall off the wing. Where he was suspended by his parachute harness about 6 feet behind the rear turret which was firing at the night fighter who was firing back at the gunner!!

The crew inside the aircraft managed to get the rest of chute out the hatch. That was the last he saw of them.

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