Why would an aircraft with an engine on fire go into a steep dive to put the fire out?

Question

I watched the film 'Memphis Belle' today and the B-17 had an engine fire and went into a fast dive to put the fire out. How would this work? I thought the oxygen would aid the fire.

Answer 1

Why?? Because it works...     You need 3 things to have a fire...  Fuel, Heat, Air.  If you dive the aircraft, you cool the combustion, and dissapate the fuel/oil vapor  which is probably what is burning (coming out of a line and spreading in the air)  If you reduce or remove any of the 3 requirements you extinguish this fire or any other for that matter. Yes, it is the same principle as blowing out a match.

For those that say it doesn't work  (I hope you never have to blow out a match)  I had an engine fire in a Cessna 310 and I dove the #$% out of it and the fire went out. If you don't believe me..... fine....  go check out the video of the guy that lost his restored F4U Corsair on youtube,  he jumped (parachute)... and the plane nosed over into a dive.. and GUESS WHAT.. the fire went out... I bet he wished he'd tried that before he jumped out... who knows,  maybe he didn't have enough altitude.

Answer 2

Somebody gave everybody a thumbs down that had the right answer. Could it be the fellow who said it was a dumb idea?

The correct answer is shut off fuel to the affected engine, and if the bottles don't put out the fire, go into a steep dive and blow the fire out. Same applies to turbines. The only caveat is:Be sure you have enough altitude to complete the maneuver, or you will run out of sky before you get enough speed to blow out the fire.

Answer 3

The airspeed increases overpowering the fire in the B-17s they had piston radial engines so the increase in speed could put out the fire and start the propeller in the event of a stall.

Answer 4

Well, the other replies pretty much have it pegged: the extra speed could blow the fire out.

If that doesn't work, the crash certainly will extinguish it pretty fast.

Answer 5

It is taught as standard procedure, some aircraft have the ability to shut off fuel supply to the engine on fire, some have fire extinguishing systems in the nacelle. A combination of available options and a dive to attempt to blow out the fire are all worth a try. Often times with the old radial engines in the start sequence you could possibly backfire through the carburetor and start a fire in which case you would want to continue to crank the engine over with the starter to suck the flames back in and smother them. Fire is the most dangerous situation to deal with in an aircraft airborne or on the ground.

Answer 6

The "wind" would only help the fire only up to certain speed.  When these plane go into steep fire, they can do well over 400 MPH.  

that is like blowing out a candle.  It is just too much wind to sustain a fire.

Good luck...

Answer 7

Just as when you blow on a match the air flow becomes too rapid for the flame to consume it in relation to the amount of fuel available at the match head, a plane in a steep dive may hope to put more air through the engine than can be consumed in relation to whatever fuel/oil is available to fuel the blaze, essentially drowning it in an overabundance that is passing through too quickly for it to catch fire.

Answer 8

dive to put out an engine fire? dumbest idea i ever heard. somebody's watching too much hollywood me thinks.