FUZING

COLOR & MARKINGS

TAIL NO.

OVERALL LENGTH

MAX. BODY DIAMETER

TAIL LENGTH

TAIL WIDTH

11.7"

TOTAL WEIGHT

BURNING TIME

5 min. approx. (Yellow candles)

DESCRIPTION:

The flare body consists of a steel tube to which is welded a steel nose. The rear end is closed by a tail plate held in place by six copper or brass shear rivets. The tail plate has two bayonet slots to receive the fixed pins of the tail. Inside the burster con-tainer is a container having a flash hole in its inner end. Inside the burster container is a burster charge consisting of a cambric bag containing gunpowder. A suspension lug is secured to the body to enable the flare to be attached to a bomb carrier. Tail consists of a cone, four vane supports, and cylindrical drum; it may be the tail normally used with the 250 lb. Incendiary, or a specially designed shortened tail.

FILLING:

The filling comprises 60 candles in two groups of 30, the two groups separated by a wooden disc to each side of which is secured primed cambric disc threaded with a length of quickmatch. Each candle weighs 1½ lbs., and is 12" long. They are cylindrical in shape or sometimes they are modified 4lb. incendiaries, and are either red, green, or yellow (white if incendiary). These candles are two main types: Non-explosive and ex-plosive. The non-explosive candles may function without delay, or after a delay of 2½ minutes to 5 minutes; the explosive candles function after 1, 1½, or 2 minutes delay. The bomb may be filled with any of a number of combinations of non-delay and delay non-explosive, and various delay explosive candles. The explosive candles are usually included in the layer nearest the tail and are mared "X" with the time of delay marked in minutes. These candles contain an explosive charge of 300 grams of gunpowder.

FUNCTIONING:

When the fuzed flare, with saftey pin removed, is released, the fuze arms when the arming vanes rotate off, and when it has fallen to a height of 3,000 ft. the gunpowder in the fuze magazine is fired and initiates the burster charge in the burster container of the flare. The products of combustion of the burster charge force the steel plate to-wards the tail plate and the pressure exerted by the wooden battens shears the copper or brass shear rivets holding the tail in place, to that the tail plate and tail are forced off, and the candle are ejected from the flare. Simultaneously with the forcing out-wards of the steel plate, the flash from the burster charge passes through the flash hole in the burster container, is conveyed through the central tube by the primed cam-bric tube, and ignites the primed cambric discs and the lengths of quickmatch which are threaded through the discs. The primed cambric discs ignite the primed ends of the candles, so that the candle are already ignited when they are ejected from the flare. The ignited candles, which are ejected at about 3,000 ft. above the gorund, take 20 to 25 seconds to fall to the ground, where they from a distinctive group and continue to burn until expended.

REMARKS:

(1) This bomb may case may also be filled with photoflash material or other filling.

(2) The usual ways of filling with candles are either; (a) 60 non-delay; (b) 56 non-delay and 4 explosive; (c) 20 non-delay and 40 delay; (d) 16 non-delay, 4 explosive, and 40 delay; (e) 30 non-delay and 30 delay; (f) 26 non-delay, 4 explosive, and 30 delay.