Valin,

 

Most engine compartment fires are from an oil or fuel leak.  If the engine continues to run, ignition sources from heat (i.e. exhaust pipes) still exist.  Air is plentiful and flammable material may still be available - fuel can be shut off, oil cannot.  So, even though you have a fire suppression system, the engine must be stopped and fuel to the engine compartment must be shut off before the fire can be extinguished. 

 

Halon deprives a fire of O2 but a Legacy descending at a high rate of speed will flush out the Halon as soon as it is released.  Perhaps too much air will upset the A/F ratio and kill the fire.  Remember that ground bound applications generally assume that the vehicle will quickly come to a stop thus increasing the effectiveness of a Halon type suppression system.  Hmmmmm, no fuel shutoff in a car except for killing power to the fuel pump.

 

The system would work perfectly for a fire whilst taxiing.

 

Scott Krueger

 

PS The standard 300 series fuel shutoff is at the aft bottom of the header tank.  For me, operating solo, that would require loosening the shoulder straps, leaning forward and way over to the right to reach the shut off - thus losing all flight visual reference.   The following aerobatic maneuver could be interesting while I must quickly sit up, recover and re-tighten the belts - hoping that the fire will blow itself out.  Ahh, fire is bad.

 

Hey LML gang,

 

As part of our risk management strategy, we want to install an engine fire extinguishing system in our Legacy under construction.  We’ve zeroed in on this Halon 1301 based system from Safecraft.  See screen shot from Aircraft Spruce’s website:

 

 

We’d appreciate comments and advice from the community regarding choice of systems and installation recommendations.  Some specific questions are:

 

·         Would a single 5 lb bottle provide enough Halon concentration to extinguish an in-flight fire?

·         Do we need to route discharge lines to the cowling inlets to ensure we’re getting the Halon throughout the compartment when discharged for a fire?

·         Has anyone had an engine fire that was successfully extinguished in flight?

·         We’re trying to eliminate mechanical connections to the instrument panel to make it easy to remove for maintenance (eg. No push pull cables, etc.).  Anyone have experience with setting up for electrically actuating a system?

·         Etc.

Thanks,

 

Valin Thorn

 

Legacy

Houston, Texas

 

 

 

Starflight, Inc.

1702 Emerald Lake Ct,

Houston, TX 77062

281.486.4663

http://www.starflight.aero/legacy