09 May 12 07:09, TOM WALKER wrote to JAMES HAIGHT:

 JH>> they played with the ratio of aluminum, silicon and magnesium.  It
 JH>> was well known that if your Porsche 914 engine caught fire, then you
 JH>> should aban the car and and just watch as the magnesium did it's
 JH>> fireworks display and m like the wicked witch in the wizard of oz.

 TW> Ibn fact as I recal lputting Water on a Magnesium fire actially made
 TW> it worse as the fire burned so hot that the instant flashing of the
 TW> water to steam provided more oxygen for the fire.

When I worked for Boeing, I was assigned as the T&D Maker who serviced
some machine tools that were used to machine magnesium.

The union rules stated that there had to be an extra man assigned to each
machine with a special fire extinguisher in hand especially formulated
for magnesium fires. When they began to machine the pivot wing-bearing on
their version of the SST, they assigned three extra men to the Verticl
Lathe that did the work. That bearing housing was 6 feet in diameter.

I never witnessed a magnesium fire until I had my own shop and started
machining magnesium, turning it into dust rather than chips. One tiny
spark from a dull tool was the culprit that started the fire and the
extinguisher put that out pretty fast. Otherwise I would have lost Ole
Bertha to it.


                R\%/itt


  ... Only those who will risk going too far can possibly
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