Thought I would open a thread to discuss my idea I posted in the other thread regarding protecting the parachute tether from an engine fire long enough to get the car stopped.
The origin of this idea is this incident that I have posted pictures of previously.
The original post is as follows:
Perhaps this belongs in a separate thread on parachute mounting, but as mentioned above in cases of severe engine fires occasionally the flame plume makes short work of the parachute tethers, even though many are covered with heat protective sleeves near the rear of the car.
I just had a thought I would throw this idea out, so that some of you might roll it around in your head.
Has anyone mounted a water fog nozzle near the parachute mount that could be activated by a fusable link (like in a commercial fire sprinkler system) to water fog the area around the chute tether once the chute is deployed? Even if it only bought you 20-30 seconds more survival time for the chute that is a lot less time the rescue crews need to spend chasing you down.
It would only activate if the chute was deployed, and the chute tether area was exposed to high heat for more than a couple seconds. If the system was pre-pressurized (air over water accumulator) it would be independent of any power requirements.
Anyone work in a fire safety business with information about commercial fire sprinkler heads, or heat sensing valves that might work for such a system?
Larry
Mazda1807 posted that he works in the fire protection equipment business, and I followed up his post with this:
I am not in need of the info, just throwing out the idea for the guys that are building cars and running cars that are fast enough that a burned off chute is major issue. When Chauvin Emmons car burned off its chute a couple years ago when he lifted a blower near the 2, it survived only about 30 seconds before the tether burned off. Luckily he was not up to full speed yet and was able to coast out without too much hassle, and he was still coming toward most of the fire equipment. If the same thing had happened at the 4 or 5, where he was at full speed and running away from most of the emergency equipment it might have taken a good deal longer for the fire crews to get there.
If you are aware of any spray nozzles that might be appropriate for that sort of situation, 1-2 minutes exposed to a direct flame plume and able to produce a high velocity water fog that could shield the tether from the direct flame and radiant heating for 30-60 seconds it might be worth while to open a second thread to explore the idea. (not wishing to hijack this thread for a prolonged discussion of it).
Larry
