What to wear in the cockpit?

[Old Koreelah]

Not all aviation fuel is dangerous; a special blend was created especially for the Blackbird (SR-71). Flying at Mach III heated the skin enough to expand, sealing the leaks, but on the ground, fuel poured out.

The party trick was to throw a lighted cigarette butt into the pool of spilled fuel. Nothing happened.

 

[APenNameAndThatA]

1 hour ago, onetrack said:

Here is just one recent RA crash where the aircraft lost power, clipped a powerline, then crashed into trees, and caught fire. The pilot died, and the passenger was taken to hospital with severe burns.

I seem to recall this passenger later died from his burns.

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-05/gold-coast-light-plane-crash-jacobs-well/12122992

That might explain it - me not seeing burnt planes. The plane (the bits that I could see because they were not black) did not look burnt, even though it was. 

[facthunter]

I've seen people who fill a motorcycle tank with fuel and are smoking. That doesn't make it a good idea.. Lots of WET tanks leak fuel. I don't know of any additive that would make fuel not ignite..  Sometimes the fuel vapour is too rich to ignite but don't trust it. Nev

[Garfly]

Apart from thinking fire-resistance, the big issue with dressing for our cramped and breezy cockpits is that we often take-off in very hot places and climb to very cold ones.  It's no problem for ordinary travellers who just need to bring along a jacket or sweater.  But it's virtually impossible to (safely) put on and take-off extra layers while we're flying.  It'd be nice to have a kind of vest made with a mesh front and clips (or velcro) on the shoulders and sides for a warm front section to be attached. (It might even go over your harness, if necessary).  Then you'd only need to roll down the sleeves on your stout cotton shirt to be nice and cosy.  ;- )

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2022 by Garfly

[onetrack]

You can buy flame-retardant cotton drill trousers from Workwear retailers, that I'd consider as being acceptable leg wear in an aircraft, for some degree of fire protection.

 

https://www.workwearhub.com.au/products/dnc-patron-saint-flame-retardant-drill-pants-navy?variant=34354617974923&currency=AUD

[Marty_d]

I like what Gyro Girl wears in the cockpit, but to be honest, it looks far better on her than it would on me.

[onetrack]

You can also get flame-resistant shirts from Workwear suppliers - not necessarily all in fluoro colour designs - but wearing a fluoro shirt might be an advantage if you crash in vegetation and you really want to be found by rescuers.

 

https://www.hicraftsafety.com.au/products/flame-retardant-workwear/flame-retardant-shirts?ads_cmpid=8104666930&ads_adid=84845911878&ads_matchtype=b&ads_network=g&ads_creative=408095988361

 

Marty, I cringe when I look at what Gyro Girl wears in the cabin, and hate to think how much she'd suffer in a crash - just the same as I think, when I see motorcycle riders wearing minimal clothing.

[Old Koreelah]

4 hours ago, facthunter said:

…Sometimes the fuel vapour is too rich to ignite but don't trust it.

Nev that’s the reason I have a clear plastic “skirt” above the top of my Mr. Funnel.

The idea is to contain fuel vapours and ensure their concentration is too high to support combustion. Probably should test that theory, well away from the plane.

[Yenn]

Liquid fuel does not burn. Only the vapours burn. High concentrations of vapour will not burn. In my young and stupid days my party trick with new mechanics brought into my army workshop was to casually walk along a line of trucks, remove the fuel cap off one and then replace the cap and walk on. That truck was checked to be brimming full of fuel and when the match hit the liquid it was extinguished. More by luck than by judgement I never tried it with a less than full tank, but the result would have been catastrophic.

[turboplanner]

The big WOOMP! comes from petrol vapour.

Vapour is heavier than air so a drain pipe is a good idea allowing it to drain out of the compartment, and protruding so if it does become the torch it's not lighting up the fuselage.

Usually half a dozen boats go up in smoke in inboards of the boat doesn't have a bilge fan to exhaust the vapour if there's a leak. One of the big outboard pluses is fuel vapour from a leak around the engine just drops onto the water, but of someone fills the fuel tanks in the boat, the vapour being pushed out of the filler neck can do a lot of damage.

 

Flash point for petrol is around -43 deg C

Diesel + 55 deg c

Methanol +52 - 108 deg C

 

Petrol was outlawed in speedway cars and bikes in the 1970s and Methanol became mandatory because it was much safer in a crash.

 

I had a meeting of drivers at home one night and the conversation got around to whether it was worth it and whether it made any difference. I had the tank off my car so I put about a litre of Methanol in it, hung it from the branch of a tree with the cap off, and, shielded by the shed, lit the oxy torch  and stuck over the filler hole.

 

None of us took Methanol lightly after that; there was no explosion, but an ear piercing hiss and the square tank finished up round.

 

One night an open wheeler car backfired on the start finish line. It had four foam pods on the carbys which would have been wet with methanol, but no vapour, The methanol flame went straight up (calm night) and burned 2 metres high.

 

 

[Flightrite]

I love the fear created with Mob Ph’s and refuelling, I’d like a dollar fir everytime Ive used a Mob Ph next to tanks being fuelled👍Also not to be used in flight, that cracks me up!😂

Edited February 18, 2022 by Flightrite

[spacesailor]

Methanol fires are doused by water, no expensive fire retard,nt equipment needed. 

spacesailor

[turboplanner]

12 minutes ago, spacesailor said:

Methanol fires are doused by water, no expensive fire retard,nt equipment needed. 

spacesailor

It’s a two stage team; first with powder      to snuff the fire, second pumped foam to prevent a reflash. 

[spacesailor]

I,ll ask my grandson when he,s finished his drifting at EASTERN CREEK this weekend. 

spacesailor