French Mitchell down, Crew OK!

bluehawk15 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 01, 2011 12:25 pm

The B-25 has one special built-in fire extinguisher for each engine. The problem is, they use a product which has been outlawed. If it's ever used, or if it somehow leaks out, there's no way I know of to have it recharged. Of course there's no promise that it will discharge even if you do try. It's not something that you can easily test. The fire detection and supression system unit is vacuum tube technology. Probably a coin toss as to if it would work or not.

whistlingdeath77 · **Posted:** Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:58 pm

bluehawk15 wrote:

The B-25 has one special built-in fire extinguisher for each engine. The problem is, they use a product which has been outlawed. If it's ever used, or if it somehow leaks out, there's no way I know of to have it recharged. Of course there's no promise that it will discharge even if you do try. It's not something that you can easily test. The fire detection and supression system unit is vacuum tube technology. Probably a coin toss as to if it would work or not.

interesting. I would have thought that some bombers would use a new system with a different safer chemical for situations like this. It's good to hear that the crew was ok

CAPFlyer · **Posted:** Wed Jun 01, 2011 3:40 pm

FiFi has a modern halon system for both the APU and the engines. I believe that Ol' 927 has received a similar system or will be getting one in the future. I know of other warbirds that have fire suppression systems originally designed for civilian transports with similar engines installed on them. I think it kinda depends on what the certification is under (Experimental, Limited, Standard, various EASA certifications), what it came with from the factory, and what the current operator wants to do as to what is or isn't installed.

Then again, the fire suppression system only works on certain kinds of fires anyway. Setting off the bottles on a stack fire is an exercise in futility, as it doing it for a fire behind the firewall in the accessory section on some of the systems.

Ztex · **Posted:** Wed Jun 01, 2011 4:31 pm

I know Chuckie has/had an on board extinguisher system that worked quite well...at the time..

Dan Newcomb · **Posted:** Wed Jun 01, 2011 6:17 pm

There are updated fire systems available and we are in the process of installing now. By the look of the picture she will fly again. It was a good thing they had a field to put it down in.

Dan

Coert Munk · **Joined:** Mon Feb 07, 2005 2:09 am **Posts:** 169

Check

http://gsirius.bookfoto.com/index.php?a ... &id=136064

for details

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:17 am

Buy it back from the ins company, strip the good stuff off (what's there's left!), scrap the rest and find a project plane to make fly.

Tim Savage · **Joined:** Mon May 03, 2004 8:26 pm **Posts:** 630

Wow! The crew was pretty lucky from the looks of the fire damage on the right engine area. I have to wonder how much smoke and flame they might have had in the cockpit from the openings wing root area. That was something we always worried about since we always carried people in the jump seats right in that location.

Unfortunately, I suspect Jack is right. The damage is much more extensive than I would have thought. The one photo appears to show the fuselage broken near the escape hatch in the rear. The damage to the wing (both thermal and impact) also looks significant.

bomberflight · **Posted:** Sat Jun 04, 2011 2:03 pm

I agree with Jack.

You have to hope that someone like Aero Trader is already making plans to cross the Atlantic to survey it and make plans to salvage
as much as possible for use in other airworthy restoration projects.

Better this outcome than the airworthy parts end up in a static restoration

Just ducking and running for cover now :hide:

Ken · **Posted:** Sat Jun 04, 2011 5:14 pm

The engine ripped away has one straight blade and two bent. None of the blades looks like it's in textbook "feather". I hope more comes out so we can learn what this crew had to deal with. Most importantly, looks like they did a nice job avoiding injury to themselves.

gary1954 · **Posted:** Sat Jun 04, 2011 8:09 pm

Man, she was pretty damaged, great photos of the injured babe. As previously mentioned, I wonder if Aero Trader is headed that way....t would be a loss to loose one of the few of the last of production models....d a m n, sure hate that this happened.

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

Damage doesn't look too much worse than Rod Lewis' aircraft, but then again you'd have to do a detailed inspection to know for sure.

gary1954 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 05, 2011 7:18 am

the only pictures I've seen of Mr. Lewis' B-25 is 1. complete at an airshow, Never saw any photos of the ship immediately following the mishap 2. on a trailer being delivered to Aero Trader, and that was not an up close and personal photo, but a good one none the less.

Iclo · **Posted:** Mon Jun 06, 2011 10:02 am

The B-25 was, this week-end, in the process to be dismantled and trucked.
No more information available, as it's understandable: the owner of the plane has other things to address in the circumstances.

Crossing my fingers that this bird will reflight as soon as possible as a single plane and not as parts in a dozen of others planes.

gary1954 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:26 am

yes in deed, hopefully they can restore her by rebuilding what is there.

There is nothing wrong with your english, you should hear me try to speak Dutch, Forget French, and the Germans cringe at my German. :drink3:

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French Mitchell down, Crew OK!

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