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From: Bulent Aliev <atlasyts@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: [FlyRotary] Re: Fire extinguishers
Date: Wed, 24 Aug 2005 12:03:06 -0400
To: "Rotary motors in aircraft" <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>

Larry,
If you block both intake and outlet, the fire should die or be  
reduced to nothing. Fire extinguisher on top will put it down.

On Aug 24, 2005, at 1:43 PM, Lawrence E Mac Donald wrote:

> As of yet, no one has come up with the notion of a
> lever (cable) operated set of doors that would block
> the air intakes of the cowling so that a fire
> extinguisher would work.
> Or is that a bad idea ?
> Larry Mac Donald
> Rochester N.Y.
> Do not archive
>
>
> On Wed, 24 Aug 2005 19:42:29 +1000 "Michael Burke"
> <mburke@southernphone.com.au> writes:
>
>>> the only way to keep the fire out is to keep the air out
>>> being able to shut the cooling air flow, at the exit or intake will
>>>
>> help a
>> lot.
>>
>> I'm trying to put this in perspective.
>> Assuming no way to shut off the intake air, is firing a halon
>> extinguisher
>> in flight going to have ANY worthwhile impact on an engine fire?
>> Keep in
>> mind that the fibreglass cowl is likely to be breached early on,
>> thus any
>> control of airflow is lost. I'm beginning to think that the most
>> important
>> issues here are detection, and removal of the source (fuel) and that
>> an
>> extinguisher would be useful to save the plane once landed, but
>> worthless
>> (and wasted) if used while airborne.
>>
>> Thinking of fire makes me glad I built a pusher.
>> John
>>
>> Yes John, early detection is vital so a heat sensor, naked flame
>> detector is
>> vital as is an ambient under cowl temp sensor. First one will detect
>> the
>> fire, and the second one will tell you how hot things are getting,
>> and most
>> important tell you when the fire has gone out.
>>     The very best strategy is in aircraft design. You need cowl
>> flaps for
>> BOTH inlet and air outlet points, so that you have total control of
>> the
>> airflow through the cowl. There are two main reasons for this.
>> 1) If you can control the air flow, you CAN control the fire, you
>> starve it.
>> Believe me it works. Why do commercial kitchens have fire blankets.
>> 2) When you fire off your halon extinguisher, you want to hold that
>> cloud of
>> halon under the cowl for as long as possible. If there is no air
>> flow it
>> ain't going any where fast, and secondly and most importantly as
>> long as you
>> have that halon cloud under the cowl, there is a very low
>> probability of
>> re-ignition. this can buy you very valuable time to find a safe
>> landing
>> area.
>>     Other design factors are, a decent size drip tray and hear
>> barrier
>> between the fuel rail and the exhaust port outlets. Don't allow fuel
>> to drip
>> or spray onto a hot exhaust. Second, shield the exhaust pipe/s from
>> shooting
>> a hot flame onto any fibreglass surface. Easier said than done I
>> know, but
>> if it can be done it should. Otherwise experiment with industrial
>> fire proof
>> matting on the inside surfaces of your cowl.
>>     An extinguisher that you can control, and that has enough
>> reserve so
>> that you can fire off 50% to 60% initially, and then two or three
>> bursts
>> three or four minutes apart. This tops up the level of halon under
>> the cowl,
>> and buys you very valuable time.
>>     Fires can be managed, but like everything else, its a lot easier
>> if you
>> design for them in the first place, and have a sound fire drill to
>> put into
>> action.
>> Safe flying guys
>> Michael Burke
>> Australia
>>
>>
>> --
>> Homepage:  http://www.flyrotary.com/
>> Archive and UnSub:   http://mail.lancaironline.net/lists/flyrotary/
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Homepage:  http://www.flyrotary.com/
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