Basically two (or more) fireworks connected by a rod. Each firework is angled such that the whole thing ascends in a helix thus making a pretty display.-- xaviergisz, Feb 09 2008 Airfoil Selection Database http://www.ae.uiuc....coord_database.html [quantum_flux, Feb 10 2008] (?) Existing technology http://www.spectacu...helicopters_001.php [DrCurry, Feb 11 2008] Baked in Thailand : Bamboo Rocket Festival https://www.youtube...watch?v=Zad8RuKCl0sI think I first heard of this festival on the halfbakery [Loris, Dec 31 2015] Ladder to the sky. https://www.youtube...watch?v=rLVQtaZQdR4 [2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 01 2016] [+] for anything involving fireworks, especially as this is likely to be unstable and dangerous.
There are a number of fireworks already that trace helical paths. Also, whatever happened to the lethal little things that were like helicopters and would whizz round and up? (no, I don't mean helicopters).-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 09 2008 I like this...are you certain this is not already being done? how do they make the spirally fireworks that come out of the larger "flower" ?-- dentworth, Feb 10 2008 hah you beat me to it MB-- dentworth, Feb 10 2008 //are you certain this is not already being done?//
no, I'm not sure. I think I've seen fireworks with tails that widen and narrow as they ascend:
/\ \/ /\ \/ /\ \/
This effect is probably done with fireworks that rotate as they ascend.-- xaviergisz, Feb 10 2008 Can it do ladder links in between?-- RayfordSteele, Feb 10 2008 Simply marketable!-- quantum_flux, Feb 10 2008 Although, you might want to aerodynamically streamline your connecting rods so that they act as fanblades and/or try to locate the center of mass below the plane of the thrusters. Also, if you could introduce your fuel near the center and blow the thrust out the tips you would have the added benefit of decreasing the polar moment of inertia about the axis of rotation.-- quantum_flux, Feb 10 2008 Oddly enough, there is a triple-helix form of DNA.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 10 2008 My cousin/half-brother has that.-- baconbrain, Feb 10 2008 Triple-helical DNA crops up in many contexts. Some sequences are naturally prone to forming triplex (or, more often, quadruplex) DNA. Triplexes are also involved in many DNA processes, often as intermediate where one strand is displacing another.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 10 2008 How exactly does genetic coupling occur in trihelical DNA, and is it a pious or impious molecule?-- quantum_flux, Feb 11 2008 The next step, is a firework nucleus and firework protein replication.-- DanDaMan, Feb 11 2008 A string or a lightweight bit of wire connecting the two fireworks would work just as well. Anyway - clever idea.-- hippo, Feb 11 2008 //How exactly does genetic coupling occur in trihelical DNA// What do you mean by "genetic coupling"?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 11 2008 That's interesting, I didn't realize that plant cells had such complex reproduction patterns. I wonder if plants evolve faster with TNA instead of animals with their mere DNA.-- quantum_flux, Feb 11 2008 As drawn, the rockets would have to be aligned to a much higher degree of calibration than usually associated with fireworks to go straight up, as opposed, say, into the bystanders.
I think you'd be better off pointing the rockets straight down, and using some other mechanism to spin them - as with the helicopters we let off as children.
Or, alternatively, point the rockets out flat - as with catherine wheels - and put a rotor in the middle to power the ascent. Oh, wait, maybe that was how those helicopters worked.-- DrCurry, Feb 11 2008 This is in fact Baked, and has been for some time. The device in question is called a "Crown wheel". It is best described as a horizontally-spinning catherine wheel with rocket lifts.
When the fuse is lit, first a pair of rotation motors start, which spins the wheel up to speed. Then the lift motors cut in; since the device is spinning, gyroscopic forces and the rotation automatically balance any difference in thust from the rocket motors.
The devices can rise up to 150 m above the launch point.
There are dual lift devices which rise up, drop down (still spinning) and then lift again, with a colour change.
Crown wheels are normally launched from a steel spike about a metre long and 10 - 12mm in diameter, mounted vertically on a heavy base.-- 8th of 7, Feb 13 2008 // Can it do ladder links in between?— RayfordSteele, Feb 10 2008//
[link]-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 01 2016 No way that ladder is real. How can the bottom stay glowing and perfectly stable for a full minute?-- notexactly, Jan 01 2016 Comments and [see more] in the video indicate a weather balloon led the launch. Nice technique.-- normzone, Jan 01 2016 It was wasn't it? Touching sentiment too.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 02 2016 random, halfbakery