Awesome Fireworks

The fireworks shows might be over, but we’ve got one more aerial spectacle for you to watch. For this stunt, Red Bull skydiver Jeff Provenzano dove through a bunch of fireworks as they fired off around him. Fellow skydiver Jon Devore captured the action. Instead of launching the fireworks from the ground, pilot Luke Aikens fired them from his Cessna airplane.

When Lauri Vuohensilta isn’t crushing things with his 150-ton hydraulic press, he enjoys making things explode. In this clip from his Beyond the Press channel, he and the guys from Pyrokratia rigged up nearly 7000 blocks of recalled fireworks to explode at the same time. This is totally going to be our new bedtime white noise.

Only in Japan host John Daub takes us inside the Komatsu Fireworks Company for a look at how they handmake their shells. Some fireworks can take months to create, each starting with a tiny ceramic ball at its center, built up in layers to produce effects. Their largest shell can produce an explosion nearly 1/2 a mile across.

Here’s a fun little video showing what happens if you place a bunch of spinning fireworks together inside an angled brick wall, then light one of them. As you might expect, the first one sets off a chain reaction, then they start bouncing around like pinballs – or Beyblades for 2000s kids.

Another day, another fascinating piece of factory equipment. This time, we’re looking at a device that ingests thousands of fireworks and arranges them into a satisfying hexagonal shape for packaging. It uses vibration to shake the empty shell casings into place before a worker ties them together.

Inspired by one of the possible scrapyard weapons you can build in Far Cry 6, Colin Furze created a real-world version of a backpack called the “Exterminador.” Rather than firing deadly mortars like in the game, when Colin pushes the button, his pack shoots off a barrage of fireworks. Adding the metal hood was a very good idea.

Lots of people celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks, but maker Peter Sripol won’t settle for those cheap little fireworks you can buy at the store. After making a gigantic spinning firework last year, he built a super-size version of one of those unpredictable rocket-style fireworks.

Back in the 19th century in Wales, one of the common ways of celebrating was with something called a rock cannon. Tom Scott reminisces about these forgotten gunpowder displays and works with a professional pyrotechnician to reproduce their explosive effect.

It seems as if every year, the number of backyard fireworks displays on July 4th increases exponentially, and in 2020, things have been truly insane. Using aerial footage captured by KTLA’s Sky5 chopper, editor Mike Dent turned Los Angeles into a scene right out of Blade Runner. The only thing missing is the Tyrell Corporation HQ.

Independence Day is nearly upon us, so it’s time to amp up the fireworks beyond the nightly booms of cherry bombs and M80s to something a little more spectacular. Maker Peter Sripol decided to see if he and his pal Sam could build oversize versions of two kinds of spinning fireworks displays, each powered by model rocket motors.

As part of the festivities at the 2020 Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival in Colorado, the pyrotechnics experts from Steamboat Fireworks bested the previous world record for largest firework shell by launching a 62-inch explosive package sky-high, illuminating the night skies for miles around.

Senko Hanabi fireworks are a traditional Japanese form of pyrotechnics that uses only a tiny bit of combustible powder to get started, then transforms through various stages to produce a sparkler effect. NightHawkInLight scored a rare lesson on how to make them at the Tsutsui Tokimasa fireworks company. Money shot at 14:18.

We’ve seen a plane shoot off fireworks before, and it’s pretty amazing. Now, thanks to all-around good guy Tom Scott and the guys at British aerobatics display team Aerosparx, we’ve been granted front-row access to a practice run, along with an explanation of how they pull off their flying spectacle.

To celebrate reaching 8 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, inventor Colin Furze fabricated a gigantic pendulum and loaded it up with roughly 4000 fireworks. The resulting show was quite spectacular once he started it swinging and hit the ignition. Build video here.

You know those fireworks that look like a tiny tank? Well builder Peter Sripol decided to celebrate the 4th of July (and 1 million subscribers) by building himself a gigantic replica of the thing. Naturally, his version makes a lot more fire. Plus, it was reusable – at least for a while.

Each July, Pyro Spectactulars by Souza produces hundreds of fireworks shows to celebrate America’s Independence Day. Wired spent a little time with pyrotechnics expert Jim Souza to walk us through some of the science and magic behind the scenes of these explosive spectacles.