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RV down in Texas, Pilot uninjured, plane destroyed

Very glad to hear the pilot is ok. Job well done on an emergency landing. I love it when the story reads "pilot walks away safe". The plane can be replaced.
 
Cudos to the pilot for getting it on the ground and walking away! :D

I love good emergency landings! The plane is disposable, pilots are not!
 
Man, I'm glad the pilot got out of there OK. I wonder what the circumstances were?

RV-4 AW certificate issued in 1989, still owned by the builder.
 
Good Grief!!! Yes indeed, so very happy he got out of that. I hope he posts his story. I'd surely like to know more about the incident and his escape. God Bless him!!
 
I don't know the pilot

but this happened close to Estates Airpark in New Waverly TX. I am currently building a house out there and my neighbor told me the engine caught fire and he put it down quickly in the feild north of the runway and was able to get out and walk away. I think he was coming in to visit a friend at the airpark. I will ask around to see if I can get more info.

Thankful he was not injured.
 
Geeman said:
my neighbor told me the engine caught fire and he put it down quickly in the feild north of the runway and was able to get out and walk away.

Thankful he was not injured.
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In flight fire was my first thought looking at the pics. Although the news article does state fire after e-landing, I take most news reports with a grain of salt on specifics. Regardless, excellent job handling a bad situation.
 
RV-4 loss

The gentleman that built and flew N10XP is a dear friend of mine. We talked about the incident, and all I'll say is that it was an in-flight fire, and a timely decision to put the airplane down in a field and get out. It was NOT a Crash and fire as reported in the news.
The pilot is planning to make a post to VAF about the incident when the investigation sheds more light on how the fire began. So please wait to hear what happened from the pilot.
 
Danny King said:
The gentleman that built and flew N10XP is a dear friend of mine. We talked about the incident, and all I'll say is that it was an in-flight fire, and a timely decision to put the airplane down in a field and get out. It was NOT a Crash and fire as reported in the news.
The pilot is planning to make a post to VAF about the incident when the investigation sheds more light on how the fire began. So please wait to hear what happened from the pilot.
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From the look of the photos, I suspected it might have been an in flight fire. What an outstanding job of getting the aircraft safely on the ground and sucessfully evacuating it. It's terrible that he lost the aircraft of course, but given the circumstances of an in flight fire, what a great outcome.

When he is ready, any light he is will to shed on the event would be greatly appreciated.

Doug
 
plehrke said:
The pictures of the plane on fire are courtesy of the volunteer fire department. Doesn't bother anyone that the fire department is taking pictures of it burning and not putting the fire out? Realize no one at risk but would be more likely to investigate cause of fire if they would not just have let it burn.
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May have been a situation like the one a couple years ago when the (EAA I think) B-17 burned to the ground in a field when the fire department had to watch from the road.
Sometimes we just can't get our fire engines out to the seen do to the ground being too soft. Bury your fire engine to the axles half way between the road and the crash site and you'll find yourself unable to help save the property or the next guy that has an emergency.
On the other hand, in small towns with volunteer only fire departments, many members show up to the scene in their personal vehicles with nothing but a full bladder while they wait for the crew to arrive with a pumper.
Don't know what happened here, but I'm sure there's a reason.
Feeling bad for the owner though. After the survival celebration is over you gotta just hate to see your pride and joy burn in front of you like that.
I'll bet he's a good stick to keep his head together and fly the plane like that under such stressful circumstances.
 
tweiss said:
I'll bet he's a good stick to keep his head together and fly the plane like that under such stressful circumstances.
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In my nearly fifty years as a private, military, and airline pilot, I have not flown with a better stick and rudder man. He flew N10XP like he was born in it!

I had the pleasure of flying his RV-4 several times over the years and it was an outstanding example of its type. It was beautifully built, and flew strait and true hands off. My heart is heavy at the loss of this beautiful machine, but filled with joy that his quick action allowed him to walk away without a scratch.
 
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plehrke said:
The pictures of the plane on fire are courtesy of the volunteer fire department. Doesn't bother anyone that the fire department is taking pictures of it burning and not putting the fire out? Realize no one at risk but would be more likely to investigate cause of fire if they would not just have let it burn.
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Fuel fire and no foam?
 
Foam

We dont have foam on our pumper at our station. We do have an additive that's supposed to help with a structure fire.
 
Wow. Something else that makes us all stop and take a breath. Outstanding job getting it down, and getting out.
Yes, we all would like to know what happened, but I'll wait to here from him. I imagine that anyone, doesnt matter who, would be shook up over this. He may not be ready or able yet to discuss it, due to insurance investigation.
Tom
 
TS Flightlines said:
Wow. Something else that makes us all stop and take a breath. Outstanding job getting it down, and getting out.
Yes, we all would like to know what happened, but I'll wait to here from him. I imagine that anyone, doesnt matter who, would be shook up over this. He may not be ready or able yet to discuss it, due to insurance investigation.
Tom
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Right Tom!! It has shaken me just thinking about it!! James will forever be MR. POHOSKI to me now. His incident has already rendered a positive for us, IMO. I have an oil change coming up and all my oil/fuel lines/systems are going to undergo very intense scrutiny. Like all of you, I'm sure, an in-flight fire is one of our worst night mares and inspections are always intense. But, this just DRIVES the possibility home and I will get some extra eye balls to help me out. Not a bad thing.

Best to all and MR. POHOSKI,
 
Agreed Deal, just like TK's accident. Shook me up---HUGE. So I slowed down on my building, and talked ALOT of people. The causes we may not know, but we can be more cautious. Sometimes, things happen for reasons we wont fully understand. But, fortunately, there are smarter people on this forum than I am that can find answers. In every bad incident, there is something we can learn. Hopefully James will be able to talk to us about this.
Tom
 
I keep a fire extinguisher within my reach in the cabin, mounted under my seat. Even a small fire can get out of hand if you don't have a means to put it out. I only cruise at 10k max (most of the time 5k feet or less) so getting on the ground, best case scenario is 6-10 minutes...a lot can burn in that amount of time!

*Time to get on the ground is based on 1k ft/min descent at 30 mph while stalled or 1.5k ft/min descent at 100 mph in a dive. Which method is used will be based on if the fire is in the cowling or in the cabin. I've tested both methods and I can trim the airplane out in both conditions and have my hands free to use the extinguisher.

Saw a Velocity burn to the ground after landing very fast and cooking the brakes until they caught fire. Everyone got out and watched the brake fire consume most of the aircraft until the fire dept put it out.

Of course an extinguisher may not have made a difference here so we'll see what the story is.
 
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Aryana said:
*Time to get on the ground is based on 1k ft/min descent at 30 mph while stalled or 1.5k ft/min descent at 100 mph in a dive. .
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Aryana,
I would hope to get a more rapid descent than just 1500 fpm, since getting on the ground from 10,000 ft at that rate will take 7 minutes, a lifetime (and the end of that life) if the plane's on fire.

I have very limited experience in RVs, but, in the Bonanza:
- pull the power to idle
- prop to high rpm
- flaps on approach setting
- gear down
- push the nose over to keep airspeed at the top of the green arc

In that configuration, I'm descending at 4500 fpm.

Is that kind of descent rate not an option in an RV?
 
Arlen said:
Aryana,
I would hope to get a more rapid descent than just 1500 fpm, since getting on the ground from 10,000 ft at that rate will take 7 minutes, a lifetime (and the end of that life) if the plane's on fire.

I have very limited experience in RVs, but, in the Bonanza:
- pull the power to idle
- prop to high rpm
- flaps on approach setting
- gear down
- push the nose over to keep airspeed at the top of the green arc

In that configuration, I'm descending at 4500 fpm.

Is that kind of descent rate not an option in an RV?
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Sorry, I should have clarified that the descent was based on my Cessna 170, not a RV. I could descend at 2k ft/min or more, but at those speeds I start imagining what a big bump might do to my 60 year old airframe! But put me on fire and we'll see how fast and far I really point that nose down. :D
 
Oh you can get down pretty fast - a lot faster than 1500fpm - depending on the plane you might easily be able to get down a lot faster that 4500 fpm too but designs vary greatly. It's been a while since I was an active piston CFI, but back in the old days I recall there were a few planes I was teaching in (BE-76 Duchess, C-402 maybe) that you'd pull power to idle, props full, initiate a rapid descent at max speed (hoping to smother the fire with too much air while trying to reduce/eliminate the fuel source), head toward an emergency field/road and then once you had a fire identified for certain and the right engine too you'd shut down the (appropriate) engine while setting up for the emergency set down if the fire was still burning. Single engine, of course, you are getting all the fuel sources shut down (mixture, fuel selector) and depending on the design (and this varies greatly) turning off any possible electrical or otherwise ignition sources...

A fire needs three things to burn - 1)Heat 2)Oxidizer (most times oxygen) 3)Fuel

Take any one of those away in the right quantity (too much or too little) and the fire is out at least temporarily until something changes again. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_triangle

Well done to this pilot for getting down and out alive!!
 
Fire

Actually, its four things. Don't ask me how I know. It was beat into my brains many years ago.....

Heat, Fuel, Oxygen (oxidizing agent), Chemical chain reaction

On another note, what do you have in your cockpit that is combustible? Plastic hoses, home depot carpet (not a dig on Home Depot, just an example), cloth seats with foam that burns like a scalded dog (sorry about the dog example), paint that isn't fireproof, etc. If it doesn't burn, does it give off smoke if ignited or super heated?

In race cars, a small bottle is mounted on roll cage and a pin is routed to cockpit in easy reach. The bottle is plumbed to engine compartment. Pull the pin and the bottle empties into the engine compartment. In a fire situation having one extra option can be the difference between walking away or having us come get you out and put you in a bag. Your choice.

I would rather see you walk or crawl out and live to complain another day. The other way is rather unpleasant for both of us.
 
Emergency Descent

Emergency Descent procedures for type certificated aircraft are usually divided into two procedures: known or suspected structural damage or no known damage. The no structural damage procedure is normally performed at Vne. There is some consensus that high speed descent will help to extinguish a fire.
The first step is to shut off the fuel. Can you reach and operate your fuel shutoff without diverting attention from flying the airplane??? If not you need to practice this.
There are many race car fire extinguisher systems available that are plumbed into the engine compartment. The most basic systems weigh 5-10# and include a actuator control and a two nozzle discharge. Prices are in the $5-700 range.
 
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