Long weekend! Graduation party...airplane caught fire!

Tim Hancock · 06-04-2007, 05:05 AM

Man what a weekend! My wife cracked the whip on me all last week forcing me to clean my shop/hangar for our daughter's highschool graduation party. One hour to go, we had it looking good and the airplanes were parked outside, tables all set up, food ready to be put out......bad thunderstorm kicks up and we had to move the planes in due to possible inbound hail.

It rained cats and dogs as the first guests pulled in and we had to shoehorn everyone in. It rained so hard, that my roof leaked and we had to put towels down in several locations (wife was mad). When the rain stopped, and we had about 100 people there, we pulled the planes out and soon after decided to start hauling rides. Well the three year old Piper Pacer's battery decided that it was a good time to take a duke, so I had to have a friend hand prop me for every ride. Just prior to the fourth ride, it would not restart. I got out and swapped places with my airplane friend and started propping it myself as he was sweating and tired. I had him prime it a bit, as it was not firing at all.

Well I guess priming it was not the answer as it fired then backfired and immediately the grass underneath the engine cowling caught fire. I stomped it with my foot, then another airplane friend said he saw smoke under the cowl! I told my friend to hit the starter to suck the flames inside...then I remembered the battery was dead and I made a mad dash past all the party onlookers to grab a fire extinguisher. I got the airbox fire put out and we called it a day as most of the party goers did not look like they wanted a ride in an airplane that just caught fire and would not start!

New battery is ordered

What a long tiring weekend, next year I get to do it all again for daughter #2.

Just before the storm.

Rot 911 · 06-04-2007, 05:39 AM

Damn, that could have been a disaster! Glad it all worked out. So how did the rest of the party go?

lendaddy · 06-04-2007, 05:41 AM

Better on the ground than in the air! See why I hate planes?

Moses · 06-04-2007, 05:46 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
.....bad thunderstorm kicks up and we had to move the planes in due to possible inbound hail.

It rained cats and dogs as the first guests pulled in and we had to shoehorn everyone in. It rained so hard, that my roof leaked...

Sorry, but I need to share.

NorCal forcast;

Tim Hancock · 06-04-2007, 06:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by lendaddy
Better on the ground than in the air! See why I hate planes?

I just knew you would like this story

Normally a back fire while attempting to start is rectified by hitting the starter and just simply having the engine inhale the offending raw gas and fire, but as luck would have it, my battery was dead and with 100+ people watching, murphie's law took over

.

Other than the fire and soggy start, it was a good party and my daughter and her friends seemed to enjoy it. Thankfully now I can resume my mess making out in the shop as usual.

Tim Hancock · 06-04-2007, 06:05 AM

Wow Moses, how is it that is so d@mn hot in NW Ohio (three 90 deg days last week and mid 80's all this coming week) but so pleasant in CA?

Joeaksa · 06-04-2007, 06:14 AM

Tim,

Sorry to hear about that but at least it did not get too bad. Better than being alone and it really catching ahold.

Hangar looks nice!

bigchillcar · bigchillcar's Garage

+1. it could have been much worse. good thinking, tim!

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Tim,
Sorry about your plane problems, I'm glad nobody got hurt! My neighbor was going to take me up in his Bell R22 on Friday, over Grosse Ile, but the weather turned nasty so we didn't get to fly... Congrats on your daughter's graduation!

Tim Hancock · 06-04-2007, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Tim,

Sorry to hear about that but at least it did not get too bad. Better than being alone and it really catching ahold.

Hangar looks nice!

You know, you are so right.

Had I been at an airport somewhere and had no fire extinguisher nearby, my airplane would be a burned out skeleton now. In the 600 hours or so of flying, this is the first time this has ever happened (murphie's law...bunch of people watching), but just the thought of what could of happened sickens me.

I am going to buy a bunch of small fire extinguishers to put in my planes and our "old" cars. The thought of having to watch your pride and joy burn to the ground because of a simple backfire is too painful to think about.

Moses · 06-04-2007, 08:02 AM

That hangar is beautiful. Pretty darn clean.

In high school I lost a car due to a very small engine fire. (Well, it was small when it started). I looked for an extinguisher but it wasn't there. I looked for a towel or blanket to throw on the motor but I didn't have anything. By the time I took off my shirt to put on the fire it was too big.

I felt pretty helpless and stupid. The car was burned beyond repair. Glad you saved your airplane!

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

After being in a house fire some years ago in Corona, CA, I always keep an extinguisher in the kitchen, garage and in the Porsche!

Seahawk · 06-04-2007, 01:57 PM

I'm glad it all worked out, Tim. What a great place for a party!

Aviation is such an odd alchemy of the normal and absurd, shaken AND stirred

304065 · 06-04-2007, 02:33 PM

Bad things happen when you prop your airplane! Seriously, I can see propping it to get out of the bush and get home, but when you KNOW you're going to have to do it more than once. . . time to switch to a Hawker XT16, also known as the PC680, so in a pinch you can swap batteries with the SC!

Glad nobody hurt.

Hangar leaks? Of COURSE it leaks!

Tim Hancock · 06-04-2007, 03:15 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by john_cramer
Bad things happen when you prop your airplane! Seriously, I can see propping it to get out of the bush and get home, but when you KNOW you're going to have to do it more than once. . .

Myself and the other two friends helping me have been hand propping for our entire flying histories. (and yes we all still have all our extremities .

)

One guy started with a T-craft, one started with a Cub and I have an ultralight that also just has the old "Armstrong" starter. I agree though that guys with no hand propping experience, sometimes can be asking for trouble when grabbing a hold of a hot prop. Even having one experienced guy and a non experienced guy at the controls can be recipe for disaster. Obviously the most dangerous thing to do would be to load and unload "hot", but absolutely no way with untrained personal in the vicinity.

Zeke · 04:56 PM

I'm ordering a bunch of extinguishers right after this post. Of course, I've been procrastinating. Glad you saved the day.

PS, did you get my thank you note?

Edit: And I did it. I found some Fireades at 10 bucks a copy. Let's hope they aren't "copies'.

I'll report back if and when I receive them. BTW, there have been some discussions here about Fireade and the firefighters seem to love the stuff.

Tim Hancock · 06-04-2007, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by milt
I'm ordering a bunch of extinguishers right after this post. Of course, I've been procrastinating. Glad you saved the day.

PS, did you get my thank you note?

Edit: And I did it. I found some Fireades at 10 bucks a copy. Let's hope they aren't "copies'. I'll report back if and when I receive them. BTW, there have been some discussions here about Fireade and the firefighters seem to love the stuff.

Yeah, I got the check Milt. Did you start the paint job yet? I just got done spraying some parts in the same color in Imron. Man I love wet looking glossy paint!

Never heard of Fireade, but I will check it out. I was just going to buy some of those small red ABC jobs. I have one that I bought for my experimental plane project and they are nice and small. I put my fire out with a larger shop ABC type and it only took a quick about 1 second burst.

Tim Hancock · 06-04-2007, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wayne at Pelican Parts
Must be nice to have lots of space...

-Wayne

It was....problem is that with space comes more "must have projects that are next to free" (my wife and my in-laws think I might have a problem

) and next thing you know, you NEED MORE SPACE and more time to work on it all. I can think of worse problems to have though

Life was simpler when I built an airplane in half of my parents 2 car garage.

PS: If you build a big shop you will be able to keep the Ferrari

A man should not have to go thru the anguish of ever having to sell any of his beloved toys

Zeke · 06-04-2007, 05:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tim Hancock
Yeah, I got the check Milt. Did you start the paint job yet? I just got done spraying some parts in the same color in Imron. Man I love wet looking glossy paint!

Never heard of Fireade, but I will check it out. I was just going to buy some of those small red ABC jobs. I have one that I bought for my experimental plane project and they are nice and small. I put my fire out with a larger shop ABC type and it only took a quick about 1 second burst.

Well, I sent a followup email thanking you profusely for helping me out. Yes, I did the painting and the car is on the road, thanks to you.

Do a search on Fireade right here. Many will spell it Fireaide, but that's incorrect. I think it would be an excellent fire extinguisher for an airplane next to Halon. I've got the powder variety up the gazoo around here, but I like what I read about Fireade.

legion · 06-04-2007, 05:38 PM

Gasoline fires can get out of hand very quickly.

Three minutes without a fire extinguisher: