Salute (pyrotechnics)

In pyrotechnics a salute is a device primarily designed to make a loud report (a bang). Most if not all salutes have a very bright flash and are made from many different formulas depending on the manufacturer. They may have aluminum, antimony, titanium or other metals added in a flake form for added spark effects. Adding metals in anything larger than flake form is considered a weapon or a pipe bomb and should never be tried. The salute may be fired on the ground (ground salute) or launched from a mortar as a shell (aerial salute). Salutes are one of the more dangerous type of fireworks. ""Mortar tubes"" used to launch aerial salutes in commercial firework displays vary from 1.75 inch diameter up to 8 inch diameter.All ground salutes over 50mg and air salutes over 130mg have been restricted by the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Child Protection Act of 1966. Most air and ground salutes are made with flash powder but earlier salutes, known as the ""cannon cracker"" were always black powder. 99.9% of all salutes today are made of some type of variable flash powder formula. A 100 gram black powder ""cannon cracker"" vs. a 100 gram flash ""salute"" is not even comparable. Their destructive force is non equivalent. The burn rate and destructive force of black powder is dependent on milling/grinding, confinement/pressure and has a tendency to throw or push all surrounding items with in the blast wave. Where as anything within the same vicinity of a flash powder blast radius will be atomized. Take mortar shells, fire arms or military cannons for instance where gun powder or BP black powder is used as a launch or a lift to send shell or bullet in said direction. Black powder will not destroy the launching barrel but flash powder will.