fritzthefox wrote:
Y'know, interestingly enough, Mythbusters did a show recently where they tried to emulate the classic Hollywood burning trail of gasoline, and had great difficulty getting it to ignite at all. It seems that the only way fuel will burn readily is when it is vaporized with oxygen (i.e. what a carburetor does). Otherwise, you can stick a lit match in it and just end up holding a wet match.
Leaking fuel ignites because the vapors trapped in the tank are released at the same time, but they rapidly dissipate into the surrounding air, so any puddle of fuel left standing more than a few seconds is far less likely to go poof. Some modern military planes and jet airliners pump nitrogen into fuel tanks to replace spent fuel in order to reduce the flammability of the plane in case of a hit to the tanks (because it prevents the fuel vapors from mixing with oxygen).
Not that I would recommend putting the smoking lounge next to the hangar, but I suspect the knee jerk reaction to chase smokers away from airplanes is a bit overzealous. Anyone know of an actual incident of an airplane blowing up because some aspiring cancer patient got too close?
(Not trolling, just curious)
You're forgetting that aviation gasoline is more volatile than automotive gasoline, which was used on the TV show. I've heard it said that a match dropped into a small puddle of unleaded auto gas COULD go out. (Haven't tried it, though.
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Gasoline vapors will vent out of a tank or container (or evaporate from a spill) and do not need the assistance of the carburetor to ignite. Static electricity while fueling your car, or a pilot light in the garage with gas fumes from a can will both have unfortunate results.
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