Is it possible that cast sight carrier frame is magnesium, Tony? Were the flames you noticed a bluish white and throwing white smoke?
Cast magnesium parts were not uncommon in the aviation industry during the 1930's and 1940's when the danger of using it was not fully understood. Douglas built a number of DC-3/C-47's with cast magnesium bits in the wing root areas and it was one of those aircraft that caught fire and crashed after the war killing either Buddy Holly or Ricky Nelson. The tip off to investigators were the eye witness reports of the plane giving off a whitish flame when it flew past in the night sky, and it being described as 'flare like'. If memory serves, the crash was the result of a gas leak in a Southwind Heater igniting next to a large cast magnesium component that in turn lit up. The investigators were surprised that magnesium had been used in some of the Douglas production run.
David
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