Hillsboro
Air Show
August
13, 2004
Almost three miles of wire trailing
over 1000’ in three directions connect
electric igniters on these fireworks shells
to intermediate junction boxes, then the junction
boxes connect to cable headers, and 1”
thick cables from 50’ to 250’ in
length connect the whole array to the monster
firing controller in the center of the firing
area.
The lead pyrotechnician sits
at a table set in the center because there’s
not enough cable to put it farther away. He’s
wearing eye protection, a hard hat, and a NOMEX
turn-out coat to protect him from the burning
debris that will be raining down on him throughout
the display. Most of the day has been spent
by a crew of 20 people wiring everything together,
and then more hours have been spent tracking
down and fixing minor wiring errors.
As the music for the show
starts to play, the operator’s listening
to another audio track that issues a short beep
every time a shell should be fired. When he
hears the beep, he pushes the next button on
the panel, and that’s all this highly
trained professional does for the next 40 minutes.
But in this case, he’s not firing all
of the show.
A couple of hundred feet away, at the edge of
the fallout zone, another pyrotechnician holds
what appears to be a video game. When the music
starts, he pushes one button, and sits back to
watch the show. As the mortars fire and the shells
burst overhead, he makes small adjustments to
the timing to keep the shells right on cue. The
shells are spectacular this close. He looks at
the other technician, head down, pushing another
button, oblivious to the beauty that’s being
created, and smiles…
The fireworks display business
is poised at the edge of a revolution, and faces
serious resistance to going over the edge. After
several years of dismal business, the industry
is rebounding. Operators who understand the necessity
of selling shows are crowding out mom-and-pop
pyros who just light fuses. Crowds have come to
expect music, choreography and advanced display
techniques. Budgets are growing every year.
On the other hand, new regulations and government
agencies post 9/11 have made running a fireworks
business somewhat of a headache. Out of date equipment,
often well past it’s intended lifetime is
still reliable, but is only one step away from
running along the rows of shells with a lighter.
Newer equipment has had trouble making the leap
from old architectures and methodologies to the
current state-of-the-art electronics and packaging.
As a result there exists a wide gap in technology,
cost, and functionality in the various firing
systems available to the pyrotechnic community.Firelinx's
primary goal is to provide professional choreographers
with a set of tools that will enable them to perform
their function better, faster, cheaper, and allow
pyrotechnicians who do not use choreography or
even fire any of their shows electrically now,
to take their shows to the next level. Even for
those companies already using electronically fired
shows, the use of wireless equipment will yield
no less than a 10%-20% reduction in total material
and labor cost savings
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