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Hand firing


DaMounty

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Hand fired my first show last night. It was a smaller show and the lead wanted to stretch it out.

 

Wow was that intense! Loved it

 

DaM

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Congratulations!

 

Our crew handfires displays regularly, we even handfire 15k shows or more depending on what the sponsor wants. I am long over the rush from it though.

 

Persoanl opinion, but I disagree with any lead wanting to "stretch out" a show. Unless you have shells worth showcasing, a 10 minute show with variable, but quick pace is much better than a 15 or 20 minute show with shells shot one or two at a time. Even worse is when you can tell the shells were pulled from the same assorted cases and loaded in order.

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Hand firing is fun for a while but after that I'm happy to push buttons from a fair distance. I had a friend dig a hole with some salutes that didn't lift, he's very pleased it was a wired show.

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I agree with you nater. To the spectator there is no difference between a 10 or 15 minute show. The lead on this show had IT god syndrome, easier to nod your head and agree.

 

DaM

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You are right, it is not wise to argue with a lead over show asthetics. If it is not a safety issue, I would voice my opinion politely once and then leave it at that.
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Probably your lead firer knew that the show run time was contract critical, maybe there had been previous issues you didn't know of.

 

I don't care how long a show is as long as it's good, but some customers will specify a run time and expect it to run accurately to time -they are called customers because they pay the money!

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Arthur, you are right the customer is the one buying the show. The lead and/or whoever sold the show should be responsible to help the client understand what makes a good show. Ultimately it is the person who pays' choice, but I won't hesitate to suggest a shorter time if their budget is short rather than drawing out a show.
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Handfiring is great if you need to be in and out quickly...

 

One NYE I shot a show at a ski resort. We were to shoot the show from a position on the ski slope 500' above the lodge. The ski slopes closed at 4:30, and Ski Patrol had to do their final sweep, which took until about 5. We then rode a sno-cat pulling our equipment and shells in a trailer up to the battery location, and started setting up racks for all we were worth.... since James Taylor was playing at 7:30, and the show had to be finished by then... which meant firing about 7:10 at the latest. The show was pretty small, only about 250 shells 2.5" to 6".

 

There were three of us, one of whom arrived halfway through the setup. I was dropping the final 3" shells when the show started. I hate working that quickly, because it isn't safe, but that thing about the customer....

 

We were working on this tiny piece of flat ground and there wasn't enough room for all the racks, so we had about 30 three and four inch shells we had to 'run and load'. If you've never had the pleasure, it's another level of crazy - wait until a gun has had about 30 seconds to cool, then run up with a new shell and drop it in the mortar. Retreat. Repeat until all the shells are gone. Keep count so you don't fire more than 7 reloads from the same gun....

 

Tear it down, load it in the sno-cat trailer, load it into the truck, and then.....

 

Shoot a second show at midnight, about the same size. Much easier setup for that one.

 

Kevin

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There are a few things I will not do, reloading is one of them, handlighting on a barge is another. The last is handlighting angled racks, like V shaped ones. I did it once when we had a firing system failure to give the crowd a finale. I did not like crawling with 5" and 6" shells flying a few feet over my head. I will not do that again.

 

If the setup time is so short and the site so compact, they can find another shooter. Otherwise, small cakes shows and a shoot trailer pulled by a quad can be utilized to minimize setup time for certain events.

Edited by nater
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