Magnesium is usually a prohibited as a material for equipment to be used on
aircraft (even thought it is light weight) because it is combustible
(although as noted in the previous postings, it would take a sustained high
temperature fire to get bulk metal going). Oil or fuel fire on an
aircraft -- or after a crash -- is not a fun thing and any added combustible
materials are not desired. Signal flares usually use magnesium as the fuel
because it burns intensely with bright white light and is practically
non-extinguishable.
On another note, space shuttle solid rocket boosters use aluminum powder as
the fuel (88% aluminum powder) because it is combustible and produces high
energy exhaust. The white "smoke" you see from the shuttle launch is mostly
steam (from the water used to cool the launch tower) and then when the
shuttle is away from the tower, the "smoke" trail you see is actually
aluminum oxide (oxidized aluminum powder -- i.e., "burned up"). Other
products in the binder (which is rubber, like pencil erasers) mix with water
in the atmosphere to form hydrochloric acid.
Just about anything will combust if you make it into a fine enough powder
and mix it with the proper ratio of air (oxygen).
(I used to build rocket motors at the Redstone Arsenal a few years ago).
Roy
techman@metrolink.net
'60 TR3a (TS 63103LO) in restoration
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