Hangar Flying

Hangar Flying => Hangar Flying => Topic started by: Dave in Eugene on January 19, 2009, 07:33:15 PM

Title: Fire. My plane is burning ~ Yesterday
Post by: Dave in Eugene on January 19, 2009, 07:33:15 PM

My plane is burning..


When it is cold out I usually stand next to the Long Ez and warm it up with the nose in the down position. I do this out of habit because my old battery was pretty weak and after extended cranking I would have to prop it by hand.


So...there I was...cranking away, because there is no primer in my plane I pump the throttle to actuate the accelerator pump and squirt some fuel into the system...usually works like a charm...the sun was shining and I was anxious to hear it fire so I pumped a little more vigorously then usual....crank crank pump pump crank pump crank pump crank pump....boof....boof?

I looked back and saw fuel burning on the ground beneath the scoop....hmmm better move my plane forward...did...looked again and noticed there were flames inside the scoop...crap...what now?...hmmm. I remember in my flight training...in the event of an induction fire CRANK THE ENGINE and it will suck the fire out....I did and it did...I have some black on my cowl and will pull my air cleaner the next time I am down to the hangar to see if anything got torched ...but it appears I got away clean on this one...

What did I learn?


1) Had I been in the a/c I might not have noticed quickly enough and it could have gotten really bad really quickly. For cold starts I will always warm it up with the nose down 1st standing outside so that I can see and react quickly.....it will re-start easily after having been run for a minute or so..


2) no pumping without cranking...NO PUMPING WITHOUT CRANKING...cause if you pump without the suction of the engine the fuel will follow gravity...make sense?

3) Would I have remembered to turn off the fuel shut off if it had gotten out of hand...hope so

I offer this to add to the collective,


Best,


Dave in Eugene

Title: Re: Fire. My plane is burning ~ Yesterday
Post by: Bill James on January 20, 2009, 04:49:30 PM

Dave-
Cool head, good reactions.
We are all susceptible to fuel pooling to some degree. The plans and CPs call for a drain hole in the system low points, including the cowl.
- A couple of supporting comments. Our induction system must drain collected fuel in any position. My carb inlet system is extremely simple consisting of an air inlet in the cowl and a 90 degree duct to the carb. Collected fuel as you described during start can simply drain down and out. If not on level ground, it could drain into the lower cowl so there is also a drain hole at that low point in the cowl.

I heard the story of a fire on the strake cap area during fueling that was swatted out with a hat. I have a Halon fire extinguisher mounted in the left strake, and a swatting towel. And usually a hat.

Related to the fire extinguisher, there is a tube running along the consoles from my arm rest back to the fire wall. There it connects to a metal tube through the firewall aimed at the engine where i would most expect a fire, but it should fill the cowl. The extinguisher nozzle and the inside diameter of the tube match. So the extinguisher can be used on the ground directly on a fire or into the cowl, or connected to the tube and put into the cowl in flight. For breathing in flight after discharging the extinguisher in the cowl there is an air inlet and breathing tube.

There is a Fire Warning system installed on the plane. A light on the panel has an insulated wire that goes back through the firewall plus about ten feet. At the firewall a different bare wire is connected to the ground junction and twined along with the insulated wire, which are routed around the engine. They are both ground wires, just not connected. If the insulation melts and they touch, the panel light will come on. It has been suggested that at that point, I would panic and crash. Rather, I would hope to have the presence of mind to confer with a wingman or turn to observe trailing smoke before fainting.

Good note Dave-

Title: Re: Fire. My plane is burning ~ Yesterday
Post by: Dave in Eugene on January 28, 2009, 08:11:37 AM

I have learned that a contributing factor to my induction fire is that the needle that is seated in the acceleration port is missing in my carburetor. My A&P says that it is a challenge to repair this because of soldering dissimilar metals. Anyone have any ideas as to who might make this type of repair? Thanks in advance. Dave