Fireworks

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.

Gav and Dan wrap up their Planet Slow-mo series with an explosive finish. They set off a 120+ foot-wide line of fireworks, each loaded up with colorful paints. The first run didn’t detonate quite right, but fortunately, they got a second go at it.

The daredevil stunt plane Scandinavian Catwalk performed this epic light show at Australia’s 2019 Avalon Airshow. Watch in awe as the plane shoots a stream of fireworks and laser beams, perfectly timed to the music, all while performing flips and rolls in the sky.

Colin Furze celebrated hitting 7 million subscribers by putting a thousand rocket fireworks each on two trucks face to face, then let ’em fly. It lasted only a few seconds, but it was a glorious few seconds. Skip to 5:00 for the spectacle.

How to Make Everything shares a brief history of fireworks, and how they work. Then he gathers the ingredients he needs to make them from scratch, including bat droppings. The resulting fireworks made for a pretty quiet Fourth of July, but technically they still worked.

World of Tanks commissioned maker Peter Sripol to come up with a hell of a way to celebrate the fourth of July. Peter and his buddy made a rideable mini tank out of wood, steel and the electronics from a wheelchair. Then they armed it with fireworks.

Colin Furze celebrated Guy Fawkes Night by attacking a washing machine with fireworks. He kept fixing the battered appliance, only to subject it to increasingly stronger pyrotechnics. Remember, remember, this poor machine dismembered.

Because owning a rocket-powered bicycle wasn’t enough, Colin Furze decided to build a bike that launches rockets instead. He built, and then pedaled this insane ride to celebrate reaching 5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel. Build video here.

Senko Hanabi is a Japanese firework that is lit upside down and emits wonderful tiny sparks. Even though it’s made of commonly found materials, NighthawkInLight says he’s been working on it for 10 years and still hasn’t perfected the sparkler.

YouTuber Thehollandrocket is going to make bank from ants on the Fourth of July. He made dozens of working miniature fireworks including labels and a stand to sell them from. We love how he was able to make all of that but he doesn’t have tiny money.

If you thought that lighting 10,000 sparklers at the same time was spectacular, get a load of this video from JoyBlend, in which 20 times as much of the incediary mixture they put on the end of sparklers gets set ablaze. They cheated a bit, but the explosion is still awesome.

Hold on to your eyeballs. Lovin Malta says Manwel Gauci of the Santa Katarina VM fireworks club made this 573lb ball of daylight. This was in September – imagine what their New Year’s celebration is like. Skip to 1:33. Drone POV here.

The Slow Mo Guys played with waterproof fireworks in a small tank to see how they would react with the water underneath and at the surface. At 120,000 frames per second, the world turns into CGI. A world that takes up 24GB per second.

Grant “The King of Random” Thompson came across some brilliantly sparkling fireworks and decided to see what would happen if he combined six of them into one giant ball of flame and sparks. The resulting explosion is quite spectacular – especially in slow-mo.

The mad inventor Colin Furze celebrated having 3 million subscribers (and counting) by setting off 58 boxes of fireworks, each with 87 shots, all at once. The only appropriate response to the result is to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Colin Furze made an RPG-style launcher for rocket fireworks. It can literally knock your socks off (if you cut the socks and tie them to the rocket). We love how he made a barrier to protect his face but he’s okay with the gas tank being inches away from his head.

To celebrate his 2 millionth YouTube subscriber, inventor, builder, and mad scientist Colin Furze created a giant turning wheel, loaded with rockets, placed precariously in front of cases full of more fireworks. The explosive end result is as bonkers as you’d imagine.

By taping together a bunch of roman candles to a PVC handle, a couple of guys from Wisconsin created a weapon that is both spectacular and dangerous for those nearby. It’s even more fun to watch played backwards.

To celebrate the end of 2015, Russian science channel SlivkiShow decided to go out with a bang – or a sparkle. They packed 10,000 sparklers into a single pot, then ignited them all at once. Be sure captions are on.

On 7/15/15 artist Cai Guo­-Qiang and locals in Quanzhou, China launched and lit the Sky Ladder, a 1640ft. tall firework. Cai says it’s a symbol of hope and affection for his hometown and loved ones. More here.

Variable’s dramatic take on Chios’ chaotic annual tradition, where parishioners of two Greek Orthodox churches fire rockets at each other while mass is held inside both buildings. It’s like a scene from The Dark Knight Rises.

To celebrate his YouTube channel hitting 1 million subs, mad scientist Colin Furze set up a rig on the back of his truck loaded with firework, and ignited them at the same time for an epic pyro show. He probably should have worn his suit.

Andy Stewart had the same idea as Pierogram and loaded Roman candles on his quadcopter, then recorded the manhunt from multiple perspectives. At this rate someone’s bound to come up with a manually controlled launcher.

The ATF gathered up an illegal stash of fireworks, and worked with the police bomb squad in Midland, Texas to destroy the 20,000 pounds of explosives over the course of three days. Here’s a small sampling of the destruction.

The Slow Mo Lab got rid of a couple of rotten oranges by planting fireworks inside them. They used a Phantom camera to film the explosions at 25,000fps and 62,000 fps. We’d love to see high resolution stills of the exploding fruit.

YouTuber Pierogram strapped Roman candles to a quadcopter and chased down his buddies with it. Before you start laughing wickedly and your eyes glaze over, factor in the risk of ending up in the hospital or in jail in your plans.

Temple Fireworks’ compilation of common aerial fireworks shells. The clips are arranged in increasing order of shell size, from 2″ to 48″. The rest of the video is a 4-minute long fireworks display that still seems way too short.