Fire is our worst nightmare! I have had a few fires, luck has been on my
side and none has entered the cockpit. Most of us have, at one time or
another, and maybe still use the Halon Systems. Halon is basically a
refrigerent. The warning we receive, when working with automotive
airconditioning systems, is when the refrigerent comes in contact with
fire it generates phosgene gas, a deadly substance. On a brighter note,
I have read recently that that is not true. I still don't want to be the
one to test the theory.
After our crash, when all the fire bottle triggered, we switched to
Diest's Cold Fire Systems. "Cold Fire" is touted to be much better than
the Halon Systems because it is a water based system which not only puts
out the fire, but cools the area at the same time. And the driver's air
is not polluted. I'm told that the Halon puts out the fire quickly, but
the fire has a tendancy to reignite because of the heat left behind.
Besides Halon is frowned upon by the Environmentalist, if you care!
If you should decide to use a breathing system, just bring in outside
air. I believe that George Fields has a system like this in his comp
coupe. We lost a Bob Herda, a super racer some years ago, to fire. In my
opinion, there have been few cars on the Salt that measure up to the
engineering on that car. But, according to the story, his demise was
primarily because he didn't want to mess up the aerodynamics by cutting
holes in the bellypan and he used an oxygen system for breathing. When
the fire started in the engine compartment, which was behind him, the
bellypan retained the fuel/oil and fire (because of inadequate drain
holes) which came forward into the driver's compartment, when the chute
deployed, burning through the oxygen hose which then fed the fire.
Tom
Chuck Rothfuss wrote:
>
> List,
>
> Here's a topic that none of us want to become authorities on, at least not
> from experience. I've been talking to the aircraft fire fighters here at the
> Air Station about Halon. I've heard nothing good about it other than the
> fact that it really does a great job putting out fires. Lots of stories
> about people getting brain damage and going into cardiac arrest after being
> exposed to it.
> These wearn't old fire fighters either, these were 19 and 20 year old kids.
> Makes me almost want to plumb some sort of snorkel in my helmet. Forward
> facing air ducts and vents are nice when you're going forward and you're
> moving. What happens in those few seconds when you're going backwards, or
> you roll to a stop, and you're on fire, maybe even unconscious? Our fire
> crews are great, and they'd probably be there at the first sign of trouble,
> but if we have to pull the FIRE handle are we really gonna have enough air?
> I'm also concerned about ducting for the fresh air system. What if your
> plastic ducting melts? I'm hauling 15 pounds of this stuff around in my
> car, and never want to use it, but if I am on fire the last thing I want to
> be thinking about is holding my breath!
> Surely there's a chemist, a flight surgeon or a fireman out there who can
> give us an expert opinion on this.
>
> Chuck Rothfuss
> ECTA
>
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