Emergency tool (was Hugh Hyde)

["James F. Agnew" <Jim_Agnew@IBM.NET>]

Back on Thu, 23 Jul 1998 I posted the following;  

> A Hugh Hyde quote

> "2. Carry a hand ax or a BIG hammer with you. (His most 
> painful injuries were the fuel burns caused by the avgas. He > was trapped in the plane for about 30 minutes unable to get 
> out. He said he figures he might have been able to lift 
> himself by his arms high enough to get out of the gas and
> water had he been able to get the door or a window open. 
> Also, as he put it, if you need to get to something in an 
> emergency from inside the plane, you can replace a piece of 
> fiberglass easier than trying to rebuild your whole 
> airplane."

Good advice, however, before you rush out and purchase an axe consider a
fireman's tool.  They look like a small dull axe with a curved pick on
the back side.  The tool is made of hardened aluminum ( NON-SPARKING )
about 1/2" thick and 12" long,  it can be used to lift, pry, chop, hole,
and it is slotted so you can twist things with it.  The bottom is a
water shutoff wrench that you can saw off the jaws and save some
weight.   You surly don't want to use a steel axe when you have AV gas
leaking. 

I couldn't find where I purchased it, however, I located the company and
spoke to Don Culotta (webmaster@onduty1.com) the designer and a
firefighter.  He informed me that he had a web page 
http://www.onduty1.com and you can purchase the tool direct for $14.95
plus shipping.  The web page will give you all of the information and
how to order.

If one of you is on the canard aviators or other forums that might be
interested feel free to re-post this note for their benfit.

Jim

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// James F. Agnew
// Tampa, FL
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