I'm not a big fan of my story being told and my images being posted without my permission (as in another thread) so here's the story of my RANS S-6S fire and some lessons I've learned from this incident.
I competed my S-6 in 2011 and put about 100 hours on it before I flew it to Oshkosh 2012. This was my second homebuilt that I completed and flew, and it was a fantastic airplane. It was equipped with a Dynon panel and a Rotax 912S engine.
One of the issues I had from the start was oil temps a little higher than normal. So on the flight to Oshkosh, the temps were higher than I think they should have been. Randy Schlitter recommended a put a few spacers on the two screws on the side of the cowling to let more air flow out of the engine compartment. I did that on the ground at Oshkosh, and was excited for the flight home to see if it would have any affect on temps.
Departing Oshkosh, my dad was with me and we noticed that the temps did indeed come down. We stopped at Hartford, WI on the way home to Michigan because they sell auto gas at the airport.
After topping off the tanks, I pushed the plane away from the tanks so that my buddy could fill his Kitfox with fuel.
As soon as I turned the key to start the engine, I noticed "steam" coming from the louvers on the top of the cowl. My first thought was that it was odd that the engine would be overheating as the temps had been fine. But it looked just like steam (like when your car overheats).
So I turned the key off, and was in no hurry but took my seat belt off to get out and take a look. As I walked around the left wing and approached the front of the plane, just then the paint started to sizzle on the cowling! I looked into the air intakes and the entire engine compartment was engulfed in flames. I told my dad, "it's on fire-get out!".
The "steam" was actually smoke, but it was so thin that it looked like steam.
Obviously I ran back to the fuel pumps to get the fire extinguisher that all airports are required to have. There were none there!
There was nothing I could do at that point, so me and my dad spent a few minutes getting as much of out baggage out as we could.
Now the fire was roaring...
The fire progressed right past the firewall and into the cabin.
At this point we thought it would explode when the fire reached the tanks so we got back about 100 feet and stood behind a dumpster!
When the fire did reach the tanks, it didn't explode, but it was a pretty fantastic fireball! Then we just stood back and watching the wings collapse and the fire spread aft.
At this point the fire department was already called, but since they had to come from town, it took them a while to get there. By the time they arrived, there was nothing left.
So what happened?
No one knows because there was nothing left to inspect. But it had to be something with the starter as the smoke started as soon as I turned the key. I believe it shorted out and the current then melted the battery cables.
As I mentioned in my thread on the RANS CLAN forums, I had a fire extinguisher in my first homebuilt, and was going to put one in this airplane, but I just never thought about it when I was at home and could order one. So the plan was to install one, I just hadn't got around to it yet.
I'm not sure a small cockpit fire extinguisher could have put out the roaring fire in the engine compartment anyway, but I would have tried.
I also have always wondered if I made a mistake in the wiring. Did I not have a circuit protection somewhere where I should have? Unfortunately I don't have the wiring diagram to go over it today.
Currently I am building a Zenith Cruzer and at the same time a Kitfox (which I hope to bring out West someday) and on the Cruzer, I once again designed the entire electrical system. But this time, once I drew it out, I sent the drawing to SteinAir and paid them to look it over, check the wire sizes, and add any circuit protection I may have missed. The only thing they had to add over an over-voltage protection. So I feel more confident in this plane's electrical system.
The one smart thing I did do was carry a large insurance policy on the airplane. Don't over look this on your planes or carry the bare minimum. I had mine insured actually for a lot more than I think it was worth. The premium may have been slightly more, but it was worth it. No one ever thinks they will need to use their insurance, but you never know. Especially if you guys are out landing on sandbars and mountain tops! That's super fun but I imagine that there is room for only a small margin of error.
One last thing I'd like to add is to think about the clothing you wear during flight. The military wears flight suits for a reason. I've thought about this and I would feel pretty dumb wearing flight suit in a Zenith Cruzer, but maybe it's a good insurance policy should you need a few extra minutes to get out?
I have about 100 photos from start to finish of the fire. One of the next videos I've been wanting to make on my YouTube channel is a story about the fire, and to cycle through all the pics to show how the fire starts and progresses. If you're interested in seeing the video (and watching the Cruzer and Kitfox build, my channel is called "KitplaneEnthusiast".
