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Salutes are a fancy or traditional name for firecrackers. Yes the good old m-80's, silver torpedoes and cherry bombs. Salutes are basically a smaller version of a low tech. bomb. Salutes are used today in the fireworks industry mainly in aerial shells. They are the ones that go FLASH BANG Wow! shock wave. These types of devises are used by S.W.A.T. in America and S.E.R.T.( Special entry somthing techniques) the Australian equivalent to S.W.A.T. It is thrown into a room full of hostages and bad guys much like a grenade. It goes plop on the floor , the bad guys go Oi! what's that, FLASH he's blind BANG he can't hear. Thus disorentating the bad guys and allowing the good guys some time (seconds) to kick ass! |
| Compositions |
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The most common composition used in salutes is flash powder. A very explosive composition that gives off large amounts of energy apon combustion. In chemistry this is known as a REDOX (reduction oxidation) reaction. Titanium flakes or grains may also be added to salute powder to give an extra white spark effect. By law ( NFPA-1123 in 1990 )in the United States of America the maximum single break salute shell size is three inches. With a maximum powder content of 2.5 oz. I'm not to sure about Australia. Paper and HDPE are the only recommended mortars to be used for aerial salutes, due to there destructive power. |
| Salute shell construction |
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A small, 3cm salute shell can be constructed using the instructions below. Materials: |
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1. Remove the lid from a film canister and fill 1/3-1/2 full with flashpowder. 2. Drill a hole by hand into the lid using the drill piece. 3. Insert time fuse into lid and place lid onto canister, making sure the fuse is embedded into the flashpowder. Fuse may be primmed at both ends if neccesary. I strongly recommend priming fuse or it could result in a misfire. 4. Using a hot glue gun carefully glue the lid in place and the gap around the fuse and let dry. 5. Adjust time fuse according to delay. |