Guest Maj Millard Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 It appears a friend of mine had to ditch his very nice Zimango motor glider into the Peter Faust dam near Proserpine NQld early Sunday morning. This was the result of experiencing an inflight engine fire shortly after departing nearby Proserpine airport which had threatened to melt the Perspex cockpit canopy. He was fully loaded and departing on a trip to the gulf to fly the morning glory cloud which he has done before. From what I've heard the amount of fire involved would suggest a fuel fed fire which could have been the result of some sort of fuel leak. Aircraft was powered by a Rotax 80 HP 912. Nil injuries fortunatly, and the results could have been much worse had they occurred half an hour later which would have found the aircraft over much more remote country and the motor glider at a much higher altitude...............Maj.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 wow what a horror story glad he found the dam in time. every pilots nightmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomadpete Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Ouch ! My worst nightmare - inflight fire. Very fortunate to have so much water available when he needed it most. Very lucky and good to hear that there were nil injuries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Ye wow what a horror story glad he found the dam in time. every pilots nightmare. Yes very fortunate the large dam was right there............Maj..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 The aircraft by the way was VH registered....I have no additional info at this time............Maj.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Llewellyn Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 I'd be most interested to know more about the actual cause of the fire. Engine fires are, fortunately, rare nowadays; that's a result of - amongst other things - much better flexible hoses and a fair bit of attention to the subject in the certification design standards. So when one does occur, the cause is of considerable interest, because it may have a bearing on the design standards. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riley Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Could this situation could be described: Not as an incident; Not as an outlanding; but simply and correctly as an 'In' (the water) landing? Levity aside, it's super good that the pilot suffered no injuries. cheers all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Being one that loves to speculate, IF the engine continued to run during the fire i would say it may have been a fault in the fuel return line. leaking onto exhaust or similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Being one that loves to speculate, IF the engine continued to run during the fire i would say it may have been a fault in the fuel return line. leaking onto exhaust or similar. I've been giving a bit of thought into what could cause a 912 to support such a fire....must have been fuel supported....carb bowl incorrectly fitted and leaking ...engine would continue to run....fuel line clamp not tight....engine could continue to run Fuel boost pump left on....could overpower the floats and push fuel out the carb ambient tubes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Llewellyn Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 See new thread on this issue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueadventures Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 See new thread on this issue Hi Dafydd What is the forum and thread name of the new thread? Cheers Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Llewellyn Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Hi DafyddWhat is the forum and thread name of the new thread? Cheers Mike "Preventing inflight fires" in General Discussion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rankamateur Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/preventing-inflight-fires.125039/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Oil fed fires burn well and often light up easier than fuel. Cutting the source of the "combustible" is a good idea, otherwise get on the ground real fast. Sidelipping was often suggested to get down faster without flying faster. It's a big subject and an important one. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Just had a long chat with the pilot and he said he did everything possible to get down quickly including sideslipping and spoiler usage. Smoke inhalation was his biggest problem and he mentioned just about everything around him suffered fire damage including the headset he was wearing, but luckily he suffered very little except from the smoke. GFA people are to examine the aircraft this week and in particular as to why the canopy didn't fully jeteson as it should have. Paul didn't think it was battery related, which was a glass mat Odessy type which had been in use for about four years. I congratulated him on his quick actions and obvious good luck. Fire started at around 4500' and he stated he was on climb to 7500'.................Maj..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 I forgot to mention the sideslipping can be used to keep the flames directed away from you as well. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 I forgot to mention the sideslipping can be used to keep the flames directed away from you as well. Nev Pilot commented he side slipped as long as he could until the heat got to his legs...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Ross is the gliding club active again up there? They used a strip to the north of the dam. The guy that ran the marine store not far from the airport was the instructor back then mid to late 90s. It went quiet and he then operated from up near Ayre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted October 6, 2014 Share Posted October 6, 2014 Robes nearest gliding is now at Charters Towers....they used to be at Ayr.....Zimango was based prev at Shute Harbor and lately at Lakeside Airpark............Maj.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ozzie Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 That's a shame. I saw some footage of the 'New" Shute. That new strip must make things much easier in the Wet now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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