Quote Originally Posted by Sneauxman View Post
The skinny on Bearcats is that the wonderful firewall burns through especially fast. My understanding from those who know of these two Bearcat crashes is that the U. S. Navy trained Bearcat pilots to abandon the a/c within 5 seconds of detecting an engine fire. That is do I have a fire? Do I have altitude? Pop the canopy. Unhook and depart the cockpit all in a 5 count. A pilot of a 'cat was drilled to get out and get out yesterday. The problem has been somewhat reduced by new reinforced pressure hoses.
When watching the Fountain video one can count to 5 from the first puff of smoke to an immediate pushover to the ground. As I recall from my little gray cell memory, the same was the same count for Mr Geren. Terrible losses.
How much do the reinforces hoses help now? I hope that all of them currently airworthy have them in if its a noticeable difference.