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Have you had a fire in your plane?

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Since the bulk of in-flight fires seem to be electrical due to poor practices, perhaps the AP syllabus needs to have additional emphasis on things electrical. Another problem seems to be the division of work between avionics techs and APs. OK guys, go ahead and take your shots.:oops:
 
I was a co-pilot/gunner on an Army AH-1G Cobra over 50 years ago when we took several hits from a heavy machine gun in the engine compartment. It was amazing how rapidly training kicked in. The engine quit and a large fire developed in the engine compartment. After getting established in an autorotation the primary flight controls failed and the cockpit filled with smoke. My brain seemed to be multi-tasking and compartmentalized; handling procedures such as cracking the canopy door for smoke removal while at the same time thinking of my wife and daughter and talking to the wingman. We went thru several trees and crashed into the side of a steep hill before rolling semi-inverted. I tried to open my canopy door, it was jammed shut from a bush we had rolled into.

Six months earlier my class had watched a training film about an Air Force T-33 pilot that had crashed in a creek and was about his efforts to get out of the wreckage. At the time I was not impressed with the film since it was about an Air Force fixed wing and I was flying helicopters. Sitting in my crashed aircraft the very last thing the pilot in the training film said popped into my mind; IF YOUR TRAPPED IN A BURNING AIRPLANE, DON’T JUST SIT THERE AND DIE, DO SOMETHING, EVEN IF IT’S ONLY TO KICK AND SCREAM AND THROW A FIT. I chose option 1 and 2, a good solid kick with a loud scream and the door moved out about an inch and could be slid forward and let me escape.

I have been in aviation for over 55 years and been fortunate to be able to support myself as a pilot. I have lost count of the number of times that I have remembered a training film, article, webinar or lecture that has influenced a decision I have made in the cockpit.

I apologize for this running long. I really just wanted to share the way a training event helped me many years ago.

Bud Dalton
 
With our single-door Cherokees, I always brief my passengers that in the event of an emergency evacuation on the ground, don't think of being graceful...just roll out onto the wing and onto the ground. Might be hard to do if the wing is on fire.
 
I experienced a similar electrical issue while flying an older C-152 VFR from Ohio to Oklahoma. I was over the hills of western Missouri when the acrid smell of a melting electrical wire caught my attention. First thing was to turn off all electrics. Second was to look for a place to land below me in the event flames occured (I was flying only 2500 ft agl). Thankfully, the smell depleted. I had another 30 minutes or so to the nearest airport. Since VFR, I did not need to use radios or anything electrical but decided to troubleshoot. Electrical systems in C-152's are pretty basic. Reviewing what switches I had on, the highest current draw that I had on was the landing light. I routinely fly with the light on as a recognition light item, especially when hazy or reduced visibility situations. Sure enough, once I turned the light back on the smell returned. Upon landing, I found the landing light wire insulation was "soft" underneath the panel. There was corrosion on the switch wire connection and it was loose, which I surmised as having created high resistance and heat. The switch itself may have failed internally as well. The remaining trip with the light off was without issue. I will tell you, I recall having watched war movies that depicted fires in the cockpit. That initial fear and imagery came to mind when I smelled and saw the smoke. It can be quiet discerning and stressful. Train to keep your wits about you and think things through.
Glad you were able to land safely!
 
Nearly had one.....see attached pictures.

The aircraft is a Piper PA46-Jetprop. For those who aren't familiar this is a stock piston PA46 that is STC'd by Rocket Engineering in Spokane, Washington State. The piston engine is removed and replaced with a PT6 - in our case a PT6A-35. The best aircraft I have ever owned - built for 310HP and now had just shy of 570 SHP. Just crazy performance....

For those who maybe haven't flown a PA46 the CB panels are on the L hand sidewall by the P1 position. There are two banks of CB's - an upper half and a lower half.

Well - flying along one day we started to get this kind of gentle 'fried insulation' smell. No smoke, no fire - just a smell. And not that much of it either - and it went away. Then it came back on another flight and I just started to get a bit concerned. So when we got home we unscrewed the top CB panel and took a look behind. Yikes....

The large cables you see are the main power supply cables from the battery master solenoid all the aircraft systems. They are held on to the bus bar by one screw - the crosshead screw you can see. This had come loose over time and had created a high resistance environment.

The bus bar handles all electrical systems (bar the starter generator) and there are a lot of electrical systems on a PA46 - including the windshield heating (20 amps) the prop and inlet lip heating, etc, etc. The starter-generator can push out 200 amps and with everything turned on then one can see 80 amps plus on the displays.

Not good.

This had to be totally rebuilt and needed quite a few new CB's that had cooked themselves.

Paul

View attachment 31965
Wow! Thanks for sharing.
 

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