62" Fireworks Shell Launch - Worlds Largest (attempt)

[displayfireworks1]

Apparently something went wrong with the attempt. Now we have to wait to hear what happened.
.
47:36 min
.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1DwDa9WPUc

[PyroManiacs]

Terrible camera work.

[Mattp]

Made a great 62” mine

[jknepp1954]

Passfire or Dominator had better vids

[RalphieJ]

They set a record alright.......World's Largest Flowerpot.

[displayfireworks1]

I do not get too excited about these big shell events. Maybe if that was a 62 inch salute or something, that would get my attention for sure. We certainly have to give credit to this group for trying. I would be curious who supplied the outer hemi's Was it ordered from China or made domestically. Be great to see some post event pictures or video.

[PyroJoeNEPA]

I do not get too excited about these big shell events. Maybe if that was a 62 inch salute or something, that would get my attention for sure. We certainly have to give credit to this group for trying. I would be curious who supplied the outer hemi's Was it ordered from China or made domestically. Be great to see some post event pictures or video.

There is info available on the build of the hemi: It started as a "medicine ball" for the inside former that was inflated to the desired size. That was then hand pasted with many, many layers of paper. Jim Widmon [aka WASP machine inventor] was involved with this whole process. The paper build up took many months for the layers to be applied, dried, and more layers added. The wall thickenss of the hemi was 6 inches!
They cut a large hole in the top--there is a pic of someone INSIDE the hemi affixing the "stars". I will see if I can find the picture. It shows the wall thickness quite well. The "stars" were large comets--several hundred of them--they looked around 5" in diameter and about 6-8" long each--with a taper on one end.
Being a shell builder I have been following the process of this shell over the last year. There were reinforcing ribs of wood routered into the outer wall of the shell and pasted over. I read where there were over 40 pages of calculations dealing with the lift, gas pressures, mortar wall design, velocity, trajectory, fallout area, etc. A LOT of engineering, chemistry, physics, etc. went into this shell.
Also, note that they did not opt for the "easy" build--ie; a "shell of shells" filled with a bunch of smaller shells. I believe there were over 300+ of those "stars [comets] inside the shell.
The problem with an undertaking like this is somewhat akin to the early days of our space program. As a pyro I can make 10 or 12 6" shells with different amounts of lift, break, different timing, etc. to "dial in" what works best....but that is not the case with a project like this one. I am sure they are already analyzing all the relevant data, reviewing video, etc. to see what the cause of the error was. And are looking to next year.
My own personal two cents is that it might have been over lifted and the excessive pressure in the gun caused the shell to burst. It would seem that if it was under lifted that it would have gotten out of the tube but not reached the velocity & height necessary for the required break....but, like I said, that is just my two cents worth.
Kudos to all the people and the countless hours, sweat, energy, and love that went into undertaking this endeavor.
Don't give up. American Pride!!!!

[jknepp1954]

https://www.facebook.com/Passfire/videos/vb.481878281834873/1202828233210712/?type=2&theater
here is a link to the one guy and his "explnation

[PyroJoeNEPA]

I just saw a short video clip on the Passfire site of Jim Widmann---after the failure. He basically said that they believe the shell was over lifted and under pasted...that is the video I saw Joyce. Thanks for posting the link.

[RalphieJ]

Ask the Maltese build the next one.

[displayfireworks1]

If it was me I would buy the hemi,'s out of China or that one plastic hemi maker out of Italy. But I'm sure they wanted to do it all themselves. Be interesting to see what the rules are for this. Are there rules or standards?

[PyroJoeNEPA]

If it was me I would buy the hemi,'s out of China or that one plastic hemi maker out of Italy. But I'm sure they wanted to do it all themselves. Be interesting to see what the rules are for this. Are there rules or standards?
Dave--a hemi of that size is not available anywhere for sale. Even the 24" and 36" hemis are all made "from scratch" like this one was.
Even with a wall thickness of 6" it did not hold up to the pressures at launch.
The Guinnes record is established by the weight of the shell--so Fireworks by Grucci still holds the record.
On a side note--all those 24" shells Grucci shot in the UAE were assembled over there. They could not ship a completed shell of that size.

[displayfireworks1]

This may be the specs here of the current record by Grucci.
.
The largest aerial firework shell weighs 1,087.26 kg (2,397 lb) and was produced and launched by Al Marjan Island (UAE) and Fireworks by Grucci (USA) on Al Marjan Island, Ras al Khaimah, UAE, on 1 January 2018.

The aerial firework shell reached a height of approximately 1,127 m (3,697 ft) from the ground to the top of the flower effect. The time is took to reach the apex was 13.1 seconds. The inner diameter of the shell was 1,397 mm (55 in) and inner diameter of the mortar was 1,524 mm (60 in).
.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h62_RVLEZzs
.
Would have been great to see some regular average pyro guys beat the record. I bet Grucci was nervous watching that recent attempt.

[pyrola]

They probably would have been happy. an oil rich country in the middle East would have paid them tons of money to beat that record.