what's the recipe for dense white smoke?

I have a friend who has a fournier motorglider with the most unusual
tips.

it has quite solid cast aluminium holders top and bottom for
pyrotechnics canisters which would give off really dense white smoke.
they were like a military smoke grenade in that once ignited they
burnt until extinguished. they were about 8inches long and 2 inches
diameter and would burn for something like 10 minutes.

the guy who used to build these for fournier has died and it is
unknown whether his recipes have survived. The canisters are no longer
available commercially which is why we are trying to duplicate them..
one component was known to be a zinc compound and another possibly
finely divided aluminium powder.
they were electrically ignited and burnt with the intense white smoke.

does any pyrotechnics enthusiast out there have an idea as to what the
canister components would have been? or maybe a substitute recipe that
could be home brewed by intelligent bods for airshow use?


in other discussions with the owner I found out what was used in
european displays to create red white and blue vapour trails for
flying displays. it is a simple dye which is mixed in the dieselene
that is fed through the smoke generator. the evaporated fuel comes out
coloured by the dye.

(I figure that since this isnt related to things exploding it may
still be ok to talk about it post 9/11)

Stealth Pilot