REFLECTOR: fire warning (was explosion)

[Pat Shea]

--- Jack Sheehan <j.f.sheehan@larc.nasa.gov> wrote:
> Mack,
> What are you using as a sensor for the fire warning?
> Jack

Another question - just what do you do when the fire
warning goes off?? I guess the obvious answer is to
look for other indications that your back end is
burning. Can you see trailing smoke at night? Given
the potential consequences, you almost have to assume
worst case scenario from the warning and get on the
ground immediately (since that's what you would do if
you *knew* you were on fire). That isn't always going
to be pretty depending on the weather conditions,
hostility of the terrain, etc. Not an easy decision to
make since it's *possibly* a false positive or even a
fire that *may* not be life threatening. I have the
same concerns w/ a fire suppression system - is the
fire really out?? Was the plane ever on fire?? On the
other hand, to quote Scott Swing from his first
retract video, "better than nothing"...
 However, live video from a small Board or Bullet
camera(s) inside the cowl makes sense to me. Either
feed the video to an MFD or a separate little flat
screen on panel. Total weight would be under 2 lbs.  
Now the pilot can make some educated decisions.
Combine it w/ fire warning and/or suppression and
you've got the whole pkg!

Pat (sorry for the long post - just thinking in
public)
   




__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!
http://sbc.yahoo.com