Page 10 - Volume 18 Number 1

altitude light goes out and
I decide to stop messing around setting up the oxygen system. Ten minutes later, still bouncing around in clouds at 10,000 feet, the engine fire light blinks, then also goes out. And, the seemingly all- around lightning now appears to be behind us. Five minutes later, we suddenly break out in the open to see the distant lights of Tampa to the left. Things are looking up, indeed.
Looking out at the left engine, I can no longer even see the turbocharger, let alone anything else hot or smoking. I slowly advance power, keeping the mixture rich and cowl flap open. The engine comes back to cruise power without hesitation and the fire light stays out. I tell our helpful “private” air traffic controller that our emergency seems to have resolved. He asks if we want to proceed to our filed
destination or land somewhere else. I know the FBO at KFXE has a very- capable twin Cessna mechanic and, descending out of 10,000 feet with everything perfectly normal, elect to continue onward for another 20 minutes.
Ten miles out on a long straight- in visual approach to runway 08 at KFXE, we are assigned tower frequency. Before switching, I thank the controller for his help and ask if there’s any paperwork to complete after landing. He says, no, nothing
for him, and then tells us to have a good evening; nice guy. We make an uneventful landing at FXE, and taxi off to the FBO.
The next morning, the mechanic removes the left cowling and three of us (with my wife particularly interested) stare suspiciously at the naked engine. Everything is as clean and flawless as when we left
Seattle. The mechanic pulls and pokes at various things, then, with that very patient, slightly-patronizing tone mechanics sometimes use on pilots, explains how the fire detection loop works, and the various quite- harmless things that can trigger it. Replacing the cowling, he says the light might come on again, and if so, just “do what you did last night”, and “don’t worry about it”. I think, easy for him to say, standing safely in the hangar in broad daylight, but not at
8 • TWIN & TURBINE
JANUARY 2014