Does anyone either carry flares while flying at the moment?
I pretty much always carry a small set of flares when flying. Nothing fancy or expensive: just a pencil launcher and approx. 10 15mm flares, sealed in a small waterproof bottle. I fire one every holiday (yesterday evening, in fact:
Victoria Day), just to rotate stock and ensure that the flares still work. BTW, I also always carry a whistle, matches, a signal mirror, and a pocket knife.
The beauty of
pencil launchers is that they are very compact, lightweight, and inexpensive: so it is dead easy to always have a flare kit on your person. The downsides are that the 15mm flares are not powerful (allegedly 15,000 candlepower, but a very short burn time), nor easy to load. I would
not consider them adequate for flying over water.
Does anyone know the legal/practical requiremnts of on-board pyrotechnics?
To the best of my knowledge, there are no relevant legal restrictions, as flares are not generally considered to be weapons. Things could be otherwise in the UK, I suppose.
I've seen some reasonably priced Distress Flare packs for sale on some boating web sites.
Many products are available. I have tried
Orion brand, with mixed results: they would not be my first choice.
Pains Wessex seems like a better bet.
If you do decide to include signal flares in your on-board equipment, do yourself a favour and get some proper training in their use. There are many unfortunate cases of people severely injuring themselves or inadvertantly starting fires through the incautious use of signalling pyrotechnics, and an emergency situation is no time to figure out 'how to do it'. Your local Coastguard station can probably provide you with, or refer you, to professional instruction in a controlled and safe environment.
P.S. You may be interested in
this story.