Over-all length

Body diameter

Wall thickness

Type of filling

Weights

Friction igniter in nose

This flare is contained in a cardboard tube the same thickness throughout its length. A corrugated cardboard 3.9 inches long surrounds the tube near the center to form a grip. Below the grip the tube is constructed to fits into the groove in the wooden plug at the nose and is held by a wire. The open ends of the tube are sealed by paper gummed over. In central hole of the wooden plug is a friction igniter. This consists of a friction compo-sition attached to the end of a short length of string impregnated with a phosphorus composition. The flare operates by breaking the seal at the nose end and pulling the string, which ignites the friction composition. This, in turn, ignites the safety fuse, which gives approximately two seconds before igniting the powder charge located below the candle. The charge ignites the candle and at the same time ejects the candle and para-chute from the tube. The resistance to the expelling charge is provided by a felt washer and waste packing at the top of the tube.

Figure 37
Parachute Flares