Fire extinguisher problem

My problem is that I want one for my flight bag but don't want to pay
$105 for the one Sporty's sells. Are there alternatives? Other than
leaving open the chance of dying a horrible, fiery death?

(Sorry, it just doesn't seem that they ought to cost that much..)

My problem is that I want one for my flight bag but don't want to pay
$105 for the one Sporty's sells. Are there alternatives? Other than
leaving open the chance of dying a horrible, fiery death?


Will an extinguisher that size prevent, or merely forestall, a horrible, fiery
death?

Jose

--
(for Email, make the obvious changes in my address)

"Paul Folbrecht" wrote in message
ink.net...
| My problem is that I want one for my flight bag but don't want to pay
| $105 for the one Sporty's sells. Are there alternatives? Other than
| leaving open the chance of dying a horrible, fiery death?

It would be interesting to know if having a fire extinguisher on board ever
prevented a horrible, fiery death.

In article ,
C J Campbell wrote:

It would be interesting to know if having a fire extinguisher on board ever
prevented a horrible, fiery death.

There's one installed under my seat (good thing I practiced getting it
out -- you'd never figure it out without laying on the seats the first
time). I've never died a horrible, fiery death so it must work!

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

You might like to tell us more of your fiery tale?




"Ben Jackson" wrote in message
news:4v%Tb.176101$nt4.773717@attbi_s51...
In article ,
C J Campbell wrote:

It would be interesting to know if having a fire extinguisher on board
ever
prevented a horrible, fiery death.

There's one installed under my seat (good thing I practiced getting it
out -- you'd never figure it out without laying on the seats the first
time). I've never died a horrible, fiery death so it must work!

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

Cockpit Colin wrote:

You might like to tell us more of your fiery tale?

I think it's probably like the guy around here who beats a cymbal every hour to
keep the elephants away.

George Patterson
Love, n.: A form of temporary insanity afflicting the young. It is curable
either by marriage or by removal of the afflicted from the circumstances
under which he incurred the condition. It is sometimes fatal, but more
often to the physician than to the patient.

You can get some of the original versions of halon extinguishers on eBay...
There are a few liquidators which are clearing the older stock for
merchants. I have two and not ONE elephant has EVER shown his head ;-)

--
--
=-----
Good Flights!

Cecil
PP-ASEL

Check out my personal flying adventures complete with pictures and text at:
www.bayareapilot.com

"I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupery -

"We who fly, do so for the love of flying. We are alive in the air with
this miracle that lies in our hands and beneath our feet"
- Cecil Day Lewis -
"Paul Folbrecht" wrote in message
ink.net...
My problem is that I want one for my flight bag but don't want to pay
$105 for the one Sporty's sells. Are there alternatives? Other than
leaving open the chance of dying a horrible, fiery death?

(Sorry, it just doesn't seem that they ought to cost that much..)

"C J Campbell" wrote in message
...
|
| It would be interesting to know if having a fire extinguisher on board
ever
| prevented a horrible, fiery death.

A search of the NTSB database for "fire extinguisher" turned up 169 hits. A
lot of the reports have nothing to do with fire; the report merely notes
whether there was an extinguisher on board, much like it notes whether a
flight plan was filed. No doubt not having a fire extinguisher explains why
the pilot augured in after flying VFR into IMC.

It appears that most of the time people unsuccessfully used fire
extinguishers to put out fires on the ground. As often as not, people simply
let the airplane burn without any attempt to extinguish the fire even though
a fire extinguisher was on board. (Hey, I'm not going back in there!)
Sometimes they were successful, though, especially if the accident was the
result of a forced landing after fuel starvation. In this case the fire was
probably not very big.

There was this case last year, though, where a Boeing 747 had a fire in (get
this) its fire detection circuit:

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...13X01896&key=1

In this accident at Arlington, people on the ground put out the fire with
fire extinguishers, probably saving the lives of the three passengers, but
not that of the pilot. Whether they got the fire extinguishers out of
airplanes parked nearby, I don't know.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...30X05248&key=1

And in this fire in a Piper, the pilot probably wished he had a fire
extinguisher. Of course, he may also have wanted to set whoever did his last
upholstery job on fire.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...17X01143&key=1

Anyway, reading the reports, I am convinced that having a fire extinguisher
on board is probably a good idea. You may never use it on your own plane,
but it might come in handy if you decide to help somebody else out.

There were accidents also where it appears that there was an onboard fire
and the occupants had a fire extinguisher, but they all died anyway,
probably from asphyxiation. Perhaps they would have been better off if they
had quick donning hoods. OTOH, maybe the hoods would have just ensured that
they would still be conscious while they burned.

The one thing that the GA accidents resulting from fire seemed to all have
in common was poor maintenance. Stuck mixture controls, automobile wiring,
improper or automotive nuts and bolts and clamps, airworthiness directives
not complied with -- saving a few bucks does not appear to be worth it. And,
bringing back the topic of an earlier thread, would you take off in an
airplane where the mixture control was stuck fully open? This pilot did that
last year; he even had to resort to shutting down the engine with the
magnetos instead of the mixture so that he could refuel. Guess he wanted to
make sure that his fire was a big one. :-)

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...19X00912&key=1

(See the complete narrative)

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message om...
You can get some of the original versions of halon extinguishers on eBay...
There are a few liquidators which are clearing the older stock for
merchants. I have two and not ONE elephant has EVER shown his head ;-)


You can still get Halon ones from the aircraft suppliers.

Fire on board is real bad. You're only option is to get down QUICK. If the
extinguisher gives you another minute or so, it's done it's job. I have a friend
who lost his plane to in-flight fire. Another minute or so in the air and I would
have lost my friend as well.

In article ,
"Ron Natalie" wrote:

"Cecil E. Chapman" wrote in message
om...
You can get some of the original versions of halon extinguishers on eBay...
There are a few liquidators which are clearing the older stock for
merchants. I have two and not ONE elephant has EVER shown his head ;-)


You can still get Halon ones from the aircraft suppliers.

Fire on board is real bad. You're only option is to get down QUICK. If
the
extinguisher gives you another minute or so, it's done it's job. I have a
friend
who lost his plane to in-flight fire. Another minute or so in the air and I
would
have lost my friend as well.



He could have used both an extinguisher and a chute!

For a bunch of rugged individualists, pilots can be the worst bunch of
conformists. I get constant ridicule for carrying a little halon
extinguisher in my homebuilt and also for wearing a chute. My legs are
right under the fuel tank on my little Stits, just like in a Cub, Champ,
etc. Cool or not, I'm gonna have that extinguisher anytime I'm in the
plane. My primary use of the chute is for glider racing. However, since
I'm paying to get the thing repacked all the time, I might as well get
as much use out of it as possible. Situations that require an
extinguisher or a chute are thankfully few, however, either left behind
on the ground are of no use at all if I have a fire inflight.

Race car drivers used to think it was uncool to wear helmets.