NEW GUINNESS WORLD RECORD FOR THE LARGEST AERIAL FIREWORK

Following on from the devastating first attempt in 2019, the American pyrotechnics expert Tim Borden was determined to give it another go at the earliest opportunity using what they learned.

The 62-inch shell in 2019 failed to reach height and exploded too early. Tim from Steamboat Fireworks made a promise not to give up trying and set about creating another one.

Obviously given its size, it is a feat of engineering and physics to manage to get a shell to launch at around 300 mph in order to reach the height required. This project was around 7-years in the making as Tim made gradually bigger and bigger shells to see what worked and how to eventually get a ton of pyro into the sky and get it to bloom before it falls back to the floor.

One of the issues the first time was that the structure of the shell was not robust enough to tolerate the speed and emotive force so the top of the list of to do’s was to ensure that it was reinforced around the waist of the shell. The wrapped it in 60 MILES of tape which took a full month of 8 hour days of patience.

The launch tube was a 26-foot long steel tube that was buried in Emerald Mountain which was absolutely imperative for the launch of this 2800lb monster shell.

Representatives from Guinness World Records were on site to witness and record the prestigious launch at the Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival in Colorado. The time arrived and fingers toes and everything else was crossed as the launch button was depressed and it successfully launched. It took around 10 seconds to reach height before breaking into a mile wide willow break which could be seen across the region.

It was indeed big and bright and I would assume that given the amount of cost and effort put into getting it launch-ready meant that the ‘effects’ were not as important as the launch itself and this one was VERY similar to the Grucci one for the successful UAE launch on NYE 2018.

For more massive fireworks shells - check out the Yonshakudama :)