How high are fireworks?

That sounds about right. As a rough rule of thumb, mortar-fired
firework shells go up about 100 feet per inch of diameter. Many
small-to-medium municipal shows don't shoot anything above 6" in
diameter, because larger mortars have to be buried for most of their
lenght, while 6" tubes (or smaller) can be set above ground.

Larger shows will include 8-12" shells, and even larger shells are
available (though they don't see a lot of use).

"Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
That sounds about right. As a rough rule of thumb, mortar-fired
firework shells go up about 100 feet per inch of diameter.

At our recent fireworks, (pretty good sized display) It seemed to me, that
the shells took about 6 seconds, from launch to explosion. If they were
nearly stopped, and about to come back down, it would work out (using math)
to 576 feet.
--
Jim in NC

"Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
That sounds about right. As a rough rule of thumb, mortar-fired
firework shells go up about 100 feet per inch of diameter. Many
small-to-medium municipal shows don't shoot anything above 6" in
diameter, because larger mortars have to be buried for most of their
lenght, while 6" tubes (or smaller) can be set above ground.

Larger shows will include 8-12" shells, and even larger shells are
available (though they don't see a lot of use).


I helped a guy build some quite large ones few years back, the coolest ones
were the 5lbs of calf's milk and 1lb of flash powder in the center. Man that
powdered milk can burn for a long time. he did the show in Wildrose, ND
"rostins thunder & lightning show" something like that.

There is also a more three dimensional effect when viewing from the
air.
--
Gene Seibel
Gene & Sue's Aeroplanes - http://pad39a.com/gene/planes.html
Because we fly, we envy no one.


Jose wrote:
Fireworks go up to 1500 feet in the air. The littler ones go a few
hundred feet up, but the big displays can send an occasional one up a
thousand feet. The burst from the bigger ones is several hundred feet
across (thus my statement that you are unlikely to find anything above
1500). I flew over the Macy's display some (koff) years back and was
above them (but not by much) while below the class B.

They are indeed more specatcular from the ground, up close. However,
they are interesting from the air inasmuch as the aircraft's motion
changes the perspective on the burst as it is exploding, which is a neat
effect and worth flying to see. It's also fun to see the displays all
over the land as you are flying around.

Jose
--
You may not get what you pay for, but you sure as hell pay for what you get.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

"Reid & Julie Baldwin" wrote in message ...
As I watched some amateur fireworks displays this weekend, I thought about what they would look like from the air.
Before I fly in the vicinity of a fireworks display, however, it would be nice to know how high those flaming
projectiles go.


The amateur stuff pops at 100' or so. They had a really big maybe 16" shell that they sent up in Boston; launched to
1200' then burst. Most pop by 500' or so...

"Blueskies" wrote in
:


"Reid & Julie Baldwin" wrote in message
...
As I watched some amateur fireworks displays this weekend, I thought
about what they would look like from the air. Before I fly in the
vicinity of a fireworks display, however, it would be nice to know
how high those flaming projectiles go.


The amateur stuff pops at 100' or so. They had a really big maybe 16"
shell that they sent up in Boston; launched to 1200' then burst. Most
pop by 500' or so...



I watched last year's fireworks atop the Stratosphere Tower in Las
Vegas. The indoor observation deck is 860' AGL and the fireworks were
launched from the top of the parking garage, perhaps 60' AGL. Most of the
rockets exploded pretty much at eye level. The ones exploding above were
more spectacular than the ones which detonated below.

For those not familiar with the tower, the glass on the indoor
observation deck slants outwards as it rises, so you can look straight
down. It does muffle a lot of the sound.

The outdoor observation deck was closed during the show for safety.
Several cardboard shards from the exploding rockets bounced off the windows
in front of me.

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)