Fire Suppression System

[Pigslilspaz]

let me see engine oil fire 3 feet in front of me, should a decide to bail out? or dive to put engine out and try to ditch the plane.  what do you think happen in real life most of the time?


semp

You normally dont have a parachute when flying a cessna or piper, which im guessing they talking about (small personal craft).

[milesobrian]

let me see engine oil fire 3 feet in front of me, should a decide to bail out? or dive to put engine out and try to ditch the plane.  what do you think happen in real life most of the time?


semp

good question

[CountD90]

AH doesn't have engine fires modeled, only fuel fires. Look closely at films and screenshots, you'll see the fire isn't coming directly from the engine.

[guncrasher]

You normally dont have a parachute when flying a cessna or piper, which im guessing they talking about (small personal craft).

no the thread is about being able to put out fires in ah.  and cessna or piper planes are not part of the game.

semp

[Castle51]

AH doesn't have engine fires modeled, only fuel fires. Look closely at films and screenshots, you'll see the fire isn't coming directly from the engine.

And as I mentioned before, the fuel cells for many WWII aircraft were also equipped to flood the affected tank with fire deterrent foam so that would also be manageable.

[guncrasher]

And as I mentioned before, the fuel cells for many WWII aircraft were also equipped to flood the affected tank with fire deterrent foam so that would also be manageable.

that was probably so the pilot could have enought time to bail out.


semp

[Tupac]

They also had self-sealing fuel tanks.

[Dawger]

I used to set the Beech 18 on fire regularly in the winter backfiring through the carburetor during starts. That was fun but if you kept cranking and the motor started the fire would get sucked in the engine and go out (most of the time). If you didn't get it started you had to jump out and fight the fire. Fun times.

Saw a Baron wing explode when a spark ignited some fuel vapor.

Met a guy who had an oxygen fueled fire in flight in a Learjet. Showed me his scars. Quite a story since they survived.

Some friends had a fuel fire in a light twin (Cessna) and it burned the wing off before they could land. They did not survive. Fuel leak ignited behind the engine, out of the slipstream.

Fires in flight are extremely frightening. That FAA guidance to put it out by diving is just to give you something to do instead of panicking. You have just as much chance of making it worse as putting it out.

[Traveler]

I know what my emergency procedures are, I was stating that IF you catch on fire and you dive fast enough they teach you that you CAN get it out. Usually an emergency (spiral descent) will get you on the ground fastest,but you dont shed a wing or suddenly explode. They have the game modeled to where you burn for about 6 seconds, and then you explode or shed a wing. Usually in the instance of an engine fire it is an oil fire, and is catastrophic but not usually explosive.

I think you are unintentionally putting out incorrect information.  If your CFI trained you to dive to put out a fire, he needs to be retrained.  In single engine aircraft Engine fires were caused by fuel 99% of the time. Oil creates a lot of smoke, but the flash point for oil is so high that it seldom results in flames.  The reason the FAA  has flight instructors teach you how to put the aircraft down fast  and get out of the aircraft is not an attempt to try to blow the fire out.  Cutting the full supply generally does that. 

The reason is the cabin fills with smoke.  You can try to open the doors, windows, it all does no good.  You end up  flying blind and passing out.  The procedure you follow is to get you on the ground ASAP and out of the aircraft.   The procedure is taught using Va because at that airspeed If you make uncoordinated control movements the worst thing that will happen is you stall the wing and can recover the aircraft before any structural damage can occur.

If your CFI left you with an impression that you put out an engine by diving at a high rate of speed, he did you a disservice.  In a single engine aircraft the only procedure  that the FAA wants you to follow is to cut off that fuel, get it on the ground and get away from the aircraft.
 
A while back 4 to 6 months ago, a Beach Mix Master B37 made a high speed pass at KBLM to impress some friends that had come down to the airfield to watch this clown.  At the end of his high speed pass down the runway about 25 feet altitude AGL he pulled the nose up and rolled the aircraft 60 degrees to the left.   It was at this point that everyone watching heard the “SNAP”   The aircraft continued to roll  to 180 degreed as parts of the airframe fell off , it then  descended    and struck the runway and exploded. 

[Tupac]

I think you are unintentionally putting out incorrect information.  If your CFI trained you to dive to put out a fire, he needs to be retrained.  In single engine aircraft Engine fires were caused by fuel 99% of the time. Oil creates a lot of smoke, but the flash point for oil is so high that it seldom results in flames.  The reason the FAA  has flight instructors teach you how to put the aircraft down fast  and get out of the aircraft is not an attempt to try to blow the fire out.  Cutting the full supply generally does that. 
A while back 4 to 6 months ago, a Beach Mix Master B37 made a high speed pass at KBLM to impress some friends that had come down to the airfield to watch this clown.  At the end of his high speed pass down the runway about 25 feet altitude AGL he pulled the nose up and rolled the aircraft 60 degrees to the left.   It was at this point that everyone watching heard the “SNAP”   The aircraft continued to roll  to 180 degreed as parts of the airframe fell off , it then  descended    and struck the runway and exploded
[quote/]

I meant that you have the possibility of putting out the fire. He doesnt teach me to dive to put the fire out.

Quick question about the mix master, did he overstress the airframe and cause it to do that?