Dan Johnson
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2007
- Messages
- 156
- Reaction score
- 5
Went out to go fly today.
After taxiing over to the pumps and topping off the tanks, I attempted to prop the Cub. It coughed twice but didn't catch. Further pulls yielded nothing, so I turned the mags off and walked the prop backward 10 pulls to attempt to clear any flooding in the carb.
Mags hot and another attempt, resulting in a few more coughs. At this point I looked down on the grass below the engine and noticed a small fire had propagated. I stomped it out, then noticed flames present inside the cowl, down around the induction area, to include coming out the air filter. I immediately ran to retrieve the fire extinguisher over by the fuel pump. Ran over thinking "Don't panic and don't pull the pin until you get back, you don't want to prematurely discharge."
Ran back, pulled the pin, but the fire was out. Elapsed time - ten to fifteen seconds.
No apparent damage. I'm going to have my mechanic come out and take close look, obviously, but I was curious to hear any thoughts from y'all. (OAT was 90 degrees, engine was run for less than five minutes on taxi over to pump.)
Thoughts?
Good onboard extinguisher?
It's interesting that we can get overly excited emotionally over non-flight or fight issues. (Driver cuts us off or flips us the bird) But during something like this, we somehow manage to remain absolutely calm. (No amygdala hijacking for those of you with a HF or psychological background)
After taxiing over to the pumps and topping off the tanks, I attempted to prop the Cub. It coughed twice but didn't catch. Further pulls yielded nothing, so I turned the mags off and walked the prop backward 10 pulls to attempt to clear any flooding in the carb.
Mags hot and another attempt, resulting in a few more coughs. At this point I looked down on the grass below the engine and noticed a small fire had propagated. I stomped it out, then noticed flames present inside the cowl, down around the induction area, to include coming out the air filter. I immediately ran to retrieve the fire extinguisher over by the fuel pump. Ran over thinking "Don't panic and don't pull the pin until you get back, you don't want to prematurely discharge."
Ran back, pulled the pin, but the fire was out. Elapsed time - ten to fifteen seconds.
No apparent damage. I'm going to have my mechanic come out and take close look, obviously, but I was curious to hear any thoughts from y'all. (OAT was 90 degrees, engine was run for less than five minutes on taxi over to pump.)
Thoughts?
Good onboard extinguisher?
It's interesting that we can get overly excited emotionally over non-flight or fight issues. (Driver cuts us off or flips us the bird) But during something like this, we somehow manage to remain absolutely calm. (No amygdala hijacking for those of you with a HF or psychological background)
