Interior of test bus was instrumented to monitor three full-scale fire tests.

Constantine P. sarkos

The Aviation Industry has had considerable experience over the past 20 years in the development and use of Halon 1301 protection systems for the extinguishment of fires occurring within the engine nacelle. During the years of the fire-prone, piston-engine aircraft, extensive testing and development was done at the Technical Development and Evaluation Center, of TDC, in Indianapolis. The Predecessor of NAFEC. After the establishment of NAFEC in 1958, this work was continued on Turbojet and Turofan engines although the occurrence of fire was considerably less frequent than from the piston engine. Thus, the aviation industry’s first experience with the use of Halon 1301 was for the extinguishment of flammable fluid or Class B fires.

Richard G. Hill

A project was conducted at the National Aviation Facilities Experimental Center (NAFEC) to determine the capability of nitrogen inerting in preventing fuel tank explosions during post-crash ground fires. The project was conducted in two distinct phases; Phase I being small scale tests using 50 gallon capacity test tank and Phase II full scale tests using outer wing panels from a C-133 aircraft (with a capacity of approximately 1, 340 gallons.)

Thermo-Systems Inc.

The cooled film sensor is a device permitting measurements in high temperature environments similar to those obtainable at normal temperatures with a hot wire anemometer. The limitations of the technique both in maximum environment conditions and accuracy are discussed. In addition, typical measurements and some special techniques that can be applied are presented. Optimum applications of the cooled film anemometer include environments where transient phenomena are to be measured and where the maximum heat transfer to the sensor (0.15mm dia. By 1.5 mm long) is less than 10 watts. Up to 20 watts is possible for short term tests.

J.J. Loftus, E.E. Hughes, D. Gross, A.F. Robertson

This report describes three techniques which were used in burning samples of aircraft finish materials with the objective of analysis of the resulting decomposition products. In spite of the fact that the methods differed significantly, varying from pyrolysis in a closed vessel to burning in the open, and the fact that the techniques of sampling were varied with the objective of offsetting adsorption problems, the results of mass spectrometric analysis of the products were not greatly different. No halogen compounds were detected in the vinyl's known to contain them. It was concluded that the methods used were inadequate to provide detailed information on the composition of the gases released during burning of the materials tested.