Mike D
Well Known Member
There are many ways (and many opinions) on how to do your fire insulation. Here is how I did mine. I'm sharing, so don't flame me too much
Dan H has some good reviews of different insulation materials. So that is a good place to start. I did my own very primitive burn tests based on the reviews from Dan.
My goals, in case of fire, were to:
1. Do no harm (insulation cant burn or create smoke)
2. Keep my feet from burning while trying to get the plane on the ground.
Additional goal was easy maintenance and good wear properties.
Of course this is in addition to other precautions like steel fittings, and good firewall pass through. (power cable pass through is being redone)
I used:
1. Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic Insulation Roll, 6 lbs./cu. ft. Density, 1/4" McMastercarr.
Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic Insulation
2. 3M fire barrier 2000
3M+FIRE+BARRIER+2000
3. Reynolds Wrap? Super Strength Foil
- The insulation will stop the heat, wont burn, and wont create any smoke or fumes.
- The 3M fire barrier is there to plug holes
- The aluminum is there to encapsulate the insulation.
Ceramic insulation with a piece of paper on top. This is 30 sec into the burn. I can touch the insulation with my bare hand 1 second after flame removal.
On the floor, I cut strips, and used the fire barrier very sparingly to tack the aluminum foil and insulation. Just enough to flip it over and rivet it in.
On the firewall, I built brackets from 0.025 aluminum, and riveted them to the aluminum angle on the firewall. I then built an inner wall from 0.025 aluminum to hold the insulation/foil in. These inner walls are shorter than the full height so can remove them without having to remove the rudder peddles. These are just for controlling the heat from burning my feet. They also clean up the look of the firewall. I will also make side panels from 0.025 aluminum with insulation on the first 10".
The left side has the inner wall installed, the right side shows the brackets (no inner wall)
The tunnel has similar but uses 1/8" insulation
So, for better or worse, that is how I have done it.
Take this as one data point and do your own tests. Vans is comfortable with blank SS firewall. This just keeps the heat off my feet without creating any additional hazards.
----------------------------------------------
On another note:
I bought this kit already started. So in this case I had to remove the gear support, drill out the floors, and remove the black foam that was there for "sound insulation". The black foam smokes badly when exposed to heat. Please don use it near your firewall.
Removing the floor and taking out the foam.
Here is the foam where I put flame to the aluminum next the foam. The aluminum milted (as expected) and the foam made lot of white smoke.
This is the foam I removed - (NOT for firewall) - http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/supersoundproofsheet.php?clickkey=7775
Dan H has some good reviews of different insulation materials. So that is a good place to start. I did my own very primitive burn tests based on the reviews from Dan.
My goals, in case of fire, were to:
1. Do no harm (insulation cant burn or create smoke)
2. Keep my feet from burning while trying to get the plane on the ground.
Additional goal was easy maintenance and good wear properties.
Of course this is in addition to other precautions like steel fittings, and good firewall pass through. (power cable pass through is being redone)
I used:
1. Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic Insulation Roll, 6 lbs./cu. ft. Density, 1/4" McMastercarr.
Ultra-High Temperature Ceramic Insulation
2. 3M fire barrier 2000
3M+FIRE+BARRIER+2000
3. Reynolds Wrap? Super Strength Foil
- The insulation will stop the heat, wont burn, and wont create any smoke or fumes.
- The 3M fire barrier is there to plug holes
- The aluminum is there to encapsulate the insulation.
Ceramic insulation with a piece of paper on top. This is 30 sec into the burn. I can touch the insulation with my bare hand 1 second after flame removal.
On the floor, I cut strips, and used the fire barrier very sparingly to tack the aluminum foil and insulation. Just enough to flip it over and rivet it in.
On the firewall, I built brackets from 0.025 aluminum, and riveted them to the aluminum angle on the firewall. I then built an inner wall from 0.025 aluminum to hold the insulation/foil in. These inner walls are shorter than the full height so can remove them without having to remove the rudder peddles. These are just for controlling the heat from burning my feet. They also clean up the look of the firewall. I will also make side panels from 0.025 aluminum with insulation on the first 10".
The left side has the inner wall installed, the right side shows the brackets (no inner wall)
The tunnel has similar but uses 1/8" insulation
So, for better or worse, that is how I have done it.
Take this as one data point and do your own tests. Vans is comfortable with blank SS firewall. This just keeps the heat off my feet without creating any additional hazards.
----------------------------------------------
On another note:
I bought this kit already started. So in this case I had to remove the gear support, drill out the floors, and remove the black foam that was there for "sound insulation". The black foam smokes badly when exposed to heat. Please don use it near your firewall.
Removing the floor and taking out the foam.
Here is the foam where I put flame to the aluminum next the foam. The aluminum milted (as expected) and the foam made lot of white smoke.
This is the foam I removed - (NOT for firewall) - http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/supersoundproofsheet.php?clickkey=7775