I don't think that using a fire extinguisher in flight is a too good of an idea - the whole cockpit would be immediately filled with foam or whatever is in the extinguisher, taking away the last bit of visibility and breathable air.
It also wouldn't do any good. How should one reach the fire on the other side of the firewall or behind the instrument panel with it?

I'd consider a fire extinguisher only to be useful to fight a small fire, while the plane is sitting on the ground, before it has time to grow and consume the rest of the plane.

Oliver

Patrol Guy - two hats? No, that was my two cents on the subject...

Guess I must be a dumbass for wanting one then.......but if it even got me 5 seconds .....in MY mind, that'd be worth it... I know how much can burn in that time.
John

hardtailjohn wrote:Guess I must be a dumbass for wanting one then....... [...]

This is not what I said...

I, personally, would however never ever use a dry-chem fire extinguisher inside of an aircraft, as the cabin will immediately be filled with dust, reducing the visibility to zero.
Even opening the doors afterwards might not help as this stuff tends to stick on surfaces like the windshield.
A halon fire extinguisher appears to be the much better choice. While it will still take one's breath it is at least not too toxic and will not fill the cabin with dust.

You might want to read this thread: http://www.supercub.org/forum/archive/i ... 33788.html

It's a quite interesting discussion, with one guy reporting what happened when an dry-chem fire extinguisher accidentally went off in the trunk of his car.

I think, that an (halon) fire extinguisher in the plane makes absolute sense, but I would only use it while the plane is on the ground, at least as long as I can't see the flames right in front of me. I also think that in an fire on board situation one might pay maximum attention to the 'aviate' component of flying instead of fiddling around with a fire extinguisher.

What I would do, is to put it on the nose, slipping it, airspeed at the red line and bring it down to ground as quick as possible. Once I'm down, I would use the fire extinguisher to fight the fire. If the fire had been fed by fuel, it might have even died because of the cut fuel supply and the storm, caused by the high airspeed.

Oliver wrote:

hardtailjohn wrote:Guess I must be a dumbass for wanting one then....... [...]

This is not what I said...

I, personally, would however never ever use a dry-chem fire extinguisher inside of an aircraft, as the cabin will immediately be filled with dust, reducing the visibility to zero.
Even opening the doors afterwards might not help as this stuff tends to stick on surfaces like the windshield.
A halon fire extinguisher appears to be the much better choice. While it will still take one's breath it is at least not too toxic and will not fill the cabin with dust.

You might want to read this thread: http://www.supercub.org/forum/archive/i ... 33788.html

It's a quite interesting discussion, with one guy reporting what happened when an dry-chem fire extinguisher accidentally went off in the trunk of his car.

I think, that an (halon) fire extinguisher in the plane makes absolute sense, but I would only use it while the plane is on the ground, at least as long as I can't see the flames right in front of me. I also think that in an fire on board situation one might pay maximum attention to the 'aviate' component of flying instead of fiddling around with a fire extinguisher.

What I would do, is to put it on the nose, slipping it, airspeed at the red line and bring it down to ground as quick as possible. Once I'm down, I would use the fire extinguisher to fight the fire. If the fire had been fed by fuel, it might have even died because of the cut fuel supply and the storm, caused by the high airspeed.

I had a new motorhome, first trip was to the ranch. While en route, we smelled smoke, pulled over for a walk around, look under the hood and under dash. Nothing, smell went away quickly. A few hours later, we pulled up to ranch house, after dark. We started to unload, noticed a small flame under right front wheel well. Emptied one large dry chemical extinguisher, shooting at flame in wheel well and inside under dash. Headed to barn to grab two more off my jeep, as my nephew battled blaze with two extinguishers off his jeep. All total we emptied 5 dry chemical extinguishers mostly inside aimed under dash. We both look like a pair of crackers afterwards. Not sure what was worse, the smoke or dust from dry chem. After last extinguisher was emptied, the only plan of attack left was to head to bedroom, kick out glass and hand out rifles/pistols/gear riding on bed. Full fuel tanks along with full propane tank would have made good fireworks after guns removed, as we were headed to pasture for for grand finale. As luck would have it, we turned off lights again to look for flames, none, so flames were out. Disconnected all batteries, finished unloading, kept close eye on it. Made it back to town ok. Ended up being an AC/heat duct that arc'd against a coil under dash, burned all insulation off duct. Stinking major mess. Master switch probably would have cut off or lessened the flames. All new extinguighers are halotron & CO2. Type or source of fire determines type of agent in extinguisher, so either halotron or CO2 is good for flying (gas/electrical) and minimal cleanup.