A new method to measure and examine ignition delays for hypergolic acid-organic reactants is described, Methods of previous investigations will be critically compared by mixing techniques, sensing devices, repeatability, and chemical composition for the influence of these parameters on ignition delay measurements, The time delay for hypergolics to react from initial contact to the appearance of flame is classically termed the ignition delay. This technique. as a result of its resolution, is the first to measure the chemical reaction time just prior to ignition, This new chemical performance measurement defines the time during which free radicals generated by the reaction should be analyzed by spectroscopic techniques, Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, hydrazine, and furfuryl alcohol were individually reacted with various nitric acid mixtures. For the furfuryl alcohol-white fuming nitric acid system, this technique is the first to show that an initiation-propagation step is required for complete hypergolic combustion, This method also is the first to quantitatively measure the chemical performance of the hypergolic reactants, The technique clearly identifies the chemical delay time within the classical definition of the ignition delay time. The chemical delay time permits direct comparison of chemical performance of hypergolic acid-organic reactions.