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Another Pa22 burned up much like the one did in May of 2016. Makes me wonder what's going on here?? I feel there is fuel leak happening either from the valve or gascolator and old wiring for ignition. Could be totally wrong here. But I really feel it needs more investigation to figure out what's causing these fires.
I noticed the cockpit was burning and apparently the engine compartment was not.
That's a great observation. But also noticed some of the cowling was burnt evenly which makes me possibly think the fire started at the firewall. Whatever caused the fire apparently has the same sort of relation to the previous incident occluding both happening shortly after take off . It could very well just be a coincidence but I really don't believe in coincidences. Very well could be something flawed that we are all missing . I sure hope somebody gets to the bottom of this so we can learn from it.
That's a great observation. But also noticed some of the cowling was burnt evenly which makes me possibly think the fire started at the firewall. Whatever caused the fire apparently has the same sort of relation to the previous incident occluding both happening shortly after take off . It could very well just be a coincidence but I really don't believe in coincidences. Very well could be something flawed that we are all missing . I sure hope somebody gets to the bottom of this so we can learn from it.
Many years ago with my first ever Tripacer, I had an in-cockpit fuel leak caused by the cable from the Brake Johnson Bar chafing through the fuel line at a point on the floorboard / bulkhead adjacent to the left rudder pedal near where the cable turns from the bulkhead to go back to the master brake cylinder. It had chafed through the fuel line just enough to cause a small hole. That point was added to my Piper+ Homer annual checklist and over the years I have found one or two that were chafing, however not actually cutting into the fuel line the way of my first encounter with the problem.
Last edited by Homer Landreth; 01-30-2017 at 11:44 AM.
I don't know if this would apply since it appears the fire was at the firewall or behind it, but my grandpa has told me about once when he had a tripacer back in the 50's and the exhaust stack cracked near the #3 cylinder and caused a fire, which he had to put out on takeoff with the extinguisher while flying with his knee. I never thought about how close he might have been to a total fire like these two incidents.
I would start with the gas collator. The wire bail is a very weak point on our fuel system on the Short Wings and other airplanes, the older the part gets the weaker the system is. Steve's Aircraft has a very good replacement part and I highly reccomend it.
I would start with the gas collator. The wire bail is a very weak point on our fuel system on the Short Wings and other airplanes, the older the part gets the weaker the system is. Steve's Aircraft has a very good replacement part and I highly reccomend it.
Isn't there an AD for modifying the firewall to prevent oil and fuel buildup for potential for fire? Not saying that this was the cause but I'd be really interested on how this in-flight fire started. So we all can take precaution.