firewall material

[jtpitkin06]

Even though engine fires are pretty rare, the firewall is not an area to cut costs.

I usually refrain from “There I was…” stories. But for fire or smoke in an airplane I will make an exception. Maybe it will help someone make prudent decisions on circuit design and fireproofing.

I had in in-flight cockpit electrical fire in an MD-82. We went on the O2 masks and smoke goggles within seconds of detecting fumes. Even so, the burning insulation immediately started my eyes watering and nose running. From 35,000 feet we did a high dive into STL and were on the ground in 8 minutes.

Burnt insulation is rude stuff. My throat was raw, eyes burned and bloodshot, snot filled my mask. Both the FO and I reported that for a week after the event, everything we ate, sniffed, or drank, smelled and tasted like burning insulation. It’s like skunk. Not the worst smell in the world, but it stays with you.

Now, I doubt there are many Kitfoxes flying with pressure purging O2 masks and smoke goggles. So your exposure to fumes is going to be a bit rough if you have a fire.

With the above in mind, why add the possibility of zinc fumes to the mix? Stainless steel 0.025 sheet is available from ACS in cut sizes. A piece large enough for a Kitfox firewall and foot wells is about $93. To that you will need to add the 0.035 fuselage cover under the rudder pedals. That will set you back about $25. Then you can have fun cutting it to size and doing all the bends. Or….

Order a firewall from Kitfox. I did just that and received a nice kit with pre-cut and bent footwells, rivets, fasteners and bottom cover plate. Life is good.


Build safe, fly safe
John Pitkin

[rogerh12]

Hey you guys are scaring me !

Shoot, maybe I should install one of those high dollar Halon system under the cowling or something !

My only really scary story was when my wood prop broke off my plane at 6000 AGL (I hear that is a rare event too, but still it did happen to me), but at least I had 6000 feet of cooling air on the engine, all the way down, down , down …

For me, I have to use the larger cowling to fit non-rotax engines, that means making my own firewall. I already have the galvanized stuff, so knowing what will happen to it in a fire is worth my time to test it (I kind of feel like a mythbuster too!).

[enyaw]

When you do your test, don't forget to add a container that will contain and focus the flame on the firewall (simulate a cowling) with a 60-120 mph wind entering from the other end.....