CollectivelySpaced

My Feedback: (18)

Hi All,

A good friend of mine has been working long and hard to bring this product to market and he is almost there! I don't know about you, but for me one of the biggest fears when flying jets is the resulting fiery carnage that can happen when a jet goes down. ResJets has the answer in the form of a miniature onboard fire extinguishing system - The "Flame Out".

Weighing in at 6oz, the unit can be located anywhere in your model with a tube routed to the intake of your turbine (zip tied to the starter). When the unit is activated it releases CO2 straight into the turbine intake, robbing the oxygen and instantly preventing the possibility of fire. The CO2 also rapidly cools the turbine, and the best part is that this system is completely harmless to the turbine itself. The unit uses standard compressed CO2 cartridges that you can purchase from any bicycle store (puncture repair type cartridges) or Walmart style store, not to mention the numerous sources online, and are completely user replaceable.

Now for the activation, there are two methods. The first way is remotely from the transmitter; with the flick of a switch you can extinguish the turbine. This is ideal for hot starts or any emergency on a scale model where the turbine is enclosed in the model and not easily accessible. The second method of activation, and possibly the most important, is from impact. In the event of signal loss to the airplane (where remote activation is not possible) the extinguisher will activate upon impact, preventing damaging fires to the surrounding area as well as to your equipment.

The pictures attached show the most recent prototype, which is very close to what the production version will look like. I took a shot with a JR Matchbox in there to give you a size reference. The linked video shows one of the tests we ran, while not going into too much detail you can get an idea of what it does. As I get more info I will post it up here, but in the mean time if you have any questions you can contact Robin of ResJets directly at [email protected]. Keep an eye on www.resjets.com for updates, and I will also try to answer any questions you have. The “Flame Outâ€� is proudly designed and manufactured in the USA.

Thanks for looking!


Video:
http://www.vimeo.com/3927125

RonLongAZ

My Feedback: (29)

This product could save a lot of jets when perfected.


Ron

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

Hot dam! We been talking about that for years! Can't wait to see the 2011 mandate that all RC jets must have this device on board [sm=bananahead.gif]

How soon can I get a couple, I might be able to get the OF's off our backs down here during droughts!!!

rhklenke

My Feedback: (24)

That's pretty slick. Wish I had one on my T-45 two weeks ago... []

Bob

CollectivelySpaced

My Feedback: (18)

Sorry to hear about your T-45, this is exactly the reason Robin is working so hard to get the "Flame Out" out to you guys!

RonLongAZ

My Feedback: (29)

Yes one could have prevented this Photo all together.


Ron

AMA234

My Feedback: (3)

It looks pretty ingenious. When you're flying a model worth many thousands of dollars and its going to hit the dirt, the majority of pilots tend to try to fly it down as long as possible or even try to keep or get control of it... and then its all over quicker than it began. This would be something that you would have to have your wits about when flying; same as pulling the throttle trim down before an impact. I would assume that it could be set up to activate in a failsafe condition as well as switched. Or even another possibility would be to have it activate automatically when an engine flames out for any reason... possibly....
Great idea, hope to see them on the market soon.



p.s. I'm sure Sean would love to reverse engineer it and make some minor changes to it. Wonder why Sean wants 'a couple'.... One to take apart and see what makes it tick and another for spare parts when putting the first one back together. LOL Just kidding Sean!!! I would love to have your machining capabilities though!

All in good fun..

Les

acw

My Feedback: (1)

In my opinion, this system is only useful if it triggers automatically with an impact. This would have to be done with an accelerometer, a little like automotive airbags. If the pilot controls the plane, it is pretty easy to kill the engine before impact. The dangerous crashes are the unexpected ones which happen so fast that the pilot doesn't have an opportunity to kill the turbine.

On a different note, I wonder if the small CO2 cartridge contain enough CO2 to put off a big crash fire. Have you considered adding an optional / larger CO2 tank?

Arnaud

causeitflies

No reason to have it go off when the engine flames out and the engine should flame out with failsafe. It's made to activate on impact in case the engine is still running or by switch for an on-board fire.

454

My Feedback: (9)

I want one and like others I could have used one about month ago

molo_30

That looks like an awesome setup. What is the weight of the whole system?

I have some Weston Fire eaters that are somewhat similar to this device. They involve a flexible pressurised 8mm tube full of inert gas (FE25 Dupont)that you put inside your fuse.

It weighs bugger all and is good for 30 and 60 liter fuselages. Goes off at 100 degrees C.

Mace

My Feedback: (21)

AAAAAhhhhhhhhhh Daniel son.... Here is what you need in the jet...

http://www.swanstrom.net/petes/shoot/autobb.htm

MACE

CollectivelySpaced

My Feedback: (18)

It has been designed to trigger automatically on impact. The idea is to prevent a fire from starting during the crash, I'm fairly certain that the CO2 cartridge wouldn't be enough to put much of a fire out.

CollectivelySpaced

My Feedback: (18)

It absolutely could be set to go off in failsafe, but the beauty of it is that in the event of a total failure of electronics it will go off when the model impacts the ground - preventing fire from igniting through the turbine.

Mental note: Keep them away from Sean

CollectivelySpaced

My Feedback: (18)

It weighs 6oz, and we are constantly looking for ways to lighten the system.

Ron S

My Feedback: (2)

I think TJT was offering something like this (onboard extinguisher) about 6 years ago, but it never went anywhere...

schroedm

My Feedback: (1)

Fortunately, I have never suffered a fire or even a wet start (knock on wood) so I may be speaking out of turn here, but surely a fire on impact is caused by ruptured tanks, spilt fuel and a hot turbine igniting the fuel. If a cartridge is insufficiently sized to put out a fire then wouldn't it be better to investigate something that could immediately cool the turbine down asap to stop fuel igniting. Or a rupture proof bags around the tanks to stop any fuel spillage?.....

Rgds,
Mark

CollectivelySpaced

My Feedback: (18)

You are correct, the tanks and fuel lines rupture and the kerosene is sucked through the turbine causing the fire. When the "Flame Out" activates on impact it suffocates the turbine essentially snuffing out any combustion while rapidly cooling at the same time (the compressed CO2 almost freezes the discharge tube). Even if kerosene is sucked through the turbine at the same time the "Flame Out" goes off it can't ignite.

lov2flyrc

My Feedback: (24)

Actually, Todd Walters developed this exact device back in 2004. He was working with TJT to market the device but there was very little interest in it back then... and these where the days when hot starts were common.
I worked closely with Todd during this period and while his unit did trigger on impact, he was not convinced it reacted fast enough to eliminate ruptured fuel ignition. As I told Robin at FJ, if he can produce the unit with a retail around 100.00 he may sell a few.... Glad to see he has taken the advice and reduced the size!!
Anyone remember the BVM "Fire Extinguisher" bladder on the Bobcats?

Gordon Mc

My Feedback: (11)

Yup - my (original) Bobcat still has the ziploc bag full of powder burried in the back of the fuz.

Gordon

CollectivelySpaced

My Feedback: (18)

I do not know anything about Todd Walters so I cannot comment on that. Size reduction of the unit has always been a priority, even before FJ, and as for sales prediction - only time will tell.

We do plan on running a practical test of this unit by performing a controlled (i.e. closed field, pro pilot) crash of a turbine powered model with this system installed. We will be filming it and it will post the video up once we are done.

seanreit

My Feedback: (60)

Believe me I have no intent to harm you guys, if you can sell them at 100.00 I will buy 5 of them immediately. We have essentially lost our local flying site to burn bans. I'm relatively certain that the local OF's would agree that if our jets had this type of device installed we could fly year around.

On the contrary to the joking, How can I help you guys succeed??

CollectivelySpaced

My Feedback: (18)

I just got off the phone with Robin, and just to clarify the "Flame Out" is not the "exact device" developed by Todd. This is a unique patent pended design, created by Robin. In fact Robin didn't know anything about Todd's design until recently.

CollectivelySpaced

My Feedback: (18)

Unfortunately this is happening with more frequency, especially in areas with extended drought periods. Hopefully the "Flame Out" will be of some help in this area. Right now the best way to help us succeed is to spread the word, and email Robin directly expressing your interest. You can also keep an eye on www.resjets.com for more info, as well as this thread.

mr_matt

My Feedback: (10)

Funny I lost a post I made about an hour ago. Here is what I think I wrote.

This looks like a device that Marty Cowan (?) showed us at Florida Jets many years ago (maybe 1999? I don't remember)

It is a great idea, and I hope you succeed. I know when talking to Marty the concern was the time needed to actuate the extinguisher in a crash. And also the G level and how to sense it without having any false discharges when bouncing around in the car on the way to the field, etc. And how to verify it works (ouch!)

In the worst case you would have maybe 10-30 msec (wild guess) to activate it in a crash (varies by speed, angle of impact and distance of the turbine from the point of impact).

That is one tenth of the time it takes a person to blink their eyes, BTW.

Good luck!