What do flares do on jets

Esterline, which also makes flares, is joined by one other domestic flare manufacturer: Kilgore Flares Co. This already precarious industrial situation may be further rattled by TransDigm Group Inc.

In an Oct. Jackie Speier, D-Calif. The letter was first reported by The Capitol Forum. Unsurprisingly, Esterline is the sole DoD chaff provider and one of two flare providers. The alarm bells should be ringing. A small but critical market. Chaff and flare are countermeasures used by military planes and helicopters to help evade a missile attack by an enemy aircraft. Meanwhile, the outlook for flare companies seems even more grim, with the report noting a number of explosions that had plagued both Esterline and Kilgore over the past several years, often leading to factorywide shutdowns that delayed deliveries of product to the Defense Department.

This creates a tremendous challenge that could be managed more successfully with better coordination among U. Flares are a defensive mechanism used to avoid detection and attacks by enemy air defense systems.

Staff Sgt. Air Force. A history of safety issues and scandal. In May , Esterline was forced to temporarily halt operations at its plant in East Camden, Arkansas, after an explosion injured two employees. Kilgore Flares also sustained several high-profile accidents in recent years, most notably a explosion that killed one employee at its factory in Toone, Tennessee. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigation of the incident, the worker had been removing residual flare materials that ignited, prompting the explosion.

Kilgore also came under the scrutiny of the U. Aviation Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for aircraft pilots, mechanics, and enthusiasts. It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Flares are some sort of burning compound that generates a significant amount of heat to distract hopefully an Infra-Red guided missile. They attract the IR missiles because the amount of IR energy created by them may be greater than that of the exhaust, which is what IR missiles follow.

The flares are deployed when the plane detects the presence of an IR missile. Once the presence of a "live" IR missile is indicated, flares are released by the aircraft in an attempt to decoy the missile; some systems are automatic, while others require manual jettisoning of the flares. They also deploy them for show too. Flares use a charge of magnesium or other substance which burns very hot and emits a very bright source of infra red energy, the theory being that an IR guided air to air missile will acquire this 'spotlight' of infrared energy and track it as opposed to continually tracking the IR source produced by the defensive aircraft's jet engines and exhaust plume.

Flare dispensers, such as the SUU common countermeasures flare dispenser systems are small boxes mounted flush with the aircraft skin in various places on the fuelage of wings of a jet.

A schematic of the flare is shown below. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. The Landing Flare, in a fixed wing aircraft, is the transition phase between the final approach and the touchdown on the landing surface.

On a typical flight with a duration of 1. However, for the discussion purposes of this article, the Landing Phase of a fixed wing aircraft will be further segmented into the:. With the exception of highlighting the interrelationships between those flight segments, they will not be examined in detail as part of this discussion.

It should also be emphasised that, at almost any point during the final approach, flare or even touchdown, the pilot s might determine that the landing should not be continued and that a rejected landing should be carried out.

One of the more difficult tasks that a pilot must routinely execute occurs during the brief transition between the final approach and first contact with the landing surface.

This transition is known as the landing flare. The flare process requires that the pilot adjust the aircraft attitude and power settings from those maintained during final approach to values which are appropriate for landing. To be successful, these adjustments must occur at a height above the landing surface that will vary based on the size, weight and performance criteria of the aircraft and the prevailing environmental conditions.

In many aircraft, pilots are required to make all height assessments based solely on external visual clues.