Flying to see fireworks

[Boilermonkey]

Has anyone gone flying on the Fourth of July to see fireworks?   What altitude is good for passengers to view the fireworks?   I've read professional fireworks can get up to 1500 AGL.  So, maybe cruise at 3-4K AGL?  Maybe higher to see multiple towns?   Of course, you also need to be laterally offset by a mile or two to have a good view since Mooney's are a low wing.    I'd appreciate any ideas.

[DualRatedFlyer]

Would love to do the Hudson corridor on the 4th

[Boilermonkey]

7 minutes ago, DualRatedFlyer said:

Would love to do the Hudson corridor on the 4th

A reminder to check TFRs....I doubt the small towns I would fly over in Indiana would have them, but NYC might.

[DualRatedFlyer]

Just now, Boilermonkey said:

A reminder to check TFRs....I doubt the small towns I would fly over in Indiana would have them, but NYC might.

A great YouTube vid of someone doing the corridor on the 4th

[0TreeLemur]

In my experience the bursts are surprisingly small and low.   Disappointing and not that cool.

[N201MKTurbo]

What Fred said.

When I first started flying I did it a couple of times and a few other times I just happened to be flying when there were fireworks.

They are underwhelming from the sky. Even at 1000 AGL you will be way over them.

A better plan would be to fly somewhere that has an Awsome display and watch it from the ground.

[kpaul]

Saw my share of "fireworks" while flying oversees, I'll pass on that opportunity again.

I have also been in the states flying on the 4th, as others have said, they are not all that impressive from the air.  They were in fact designed to be viewed from the ground.

[RobertGary1]

Its amazingly boring. The fireworks that look to be 10,000 feet high from the ground look to be about 5 feet high from the air. In truth I think they are only 100 feet or so. Not very impressive from the air.

 

-Robert

[N201MKTurbo]

But, What the heck. You won't be a well rounded flyer until you do it, so get out there and see for your self!

[FloridaMan]

What everyone else said. The one thing that is kindof cool is you get to see all the fireworks shows for miles around. 

[Rick Junkin]

Hmmm.... I guess I'm easily entertained.

I took my wife up last year here in St Louis, and we really enjoyed it. We were in a CH2000, which has a much larger viewing area than the Mooney, and we were only going about 80kts at 1,000 AGL. EVERYONE in St Louis and the surrounding areas has fireworks, meaning both the big displays that the municipalities put on and all of the stuff that is shot off by private citizens. Some of it reminded me of some of the stuff @kpaulreferenced from another part of the world, but it was an enjoyable experience that we may do again this year.

Cheers,
Rick

[Don Heene]

Better to see it from the ground.  Flying then looking, down it's not that impressive.  Also hard to see them.  The black sky looking up is easier to see.  

[gsxrpilot]

From my experience, a much better idea is to take a plane up at night to look at Christmas lights. With entire neighborhoods lit up, it's impressive from the air. Also in Texas, the weather is much better for flying in December rather than July.

[Hank]

1 minute ago, gsxrpilot said:

From my experience, a much better idea is to take a plane up at night to look at Christmas lights. With entire neighborhoods lit up, it's impressive from the air. Also in Texas, the weather is much better for flying in December rather than July.

I've done both, and this is an accurate assessment. Those in more densely settled area will like it more.

[gsxrpilot]

It's been a few years, but I once took a girlfriend up for a Christmas flight to look at the lights. We finished up out in the country circling over a friends place. He and I had spent the day before laying lights out in the back pasture. Needless to say, it worked and she still flies with me today.

 

[RLCarter]

South Padre Island has a firework display every Friday & Saturday night from April thru October, they shoot them off from a barge anchored several hundred yards from shore, nice show from the ground..... So so from the air

[bonal]

We did this some years ago in our 150 pre Mooney days. And I have to differ from others I thought it was a very memorable experience. Our local town launches from a barge a hundred yards or so from shore.  I remember we were about 1200ft and in a gentle right hand circle around the area that the display was going off. Most were at or just below our elevation and with the high wing of the Cessna made for excellent views. But more than that we were flying our airplane No one else in the sky so felt pretty special. Also when it was over a few minutes back to the airport and no traffic to deal with. And to be honest some of the detonations were pretty close, I probably should have been a bit further out, oh well. Also with the 150 was no problem flying just under 50 mph. Also since we were over water the background was dark as the sky.

Edited June 30, 2018 by bonal

[Mooney-Mark]

I did it in my 172 years ago and it was pretty disappointing. You can't hear the "booms", which are a big part ot the thrill of watching fireworks, and they look pretty small from the air so you just end up circling for an hour watching small, silent bursts. The one time when it was really cool, however, was flying crosscountry on the 4th and seeing the fireworks as we passed over cities and towns enroute.

[Boilermonkey]

I went up last night to get night currency. Since it's the Saturday before the fourth, a few towns and people were setting things off. It was pretty cool, especially the smaller towns and farms where it was pitch black around them.

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[Steelstring]

I went up on the fourth in NE Ohio many years ago.  I thought it was pretty cool! 

[kris_adams]

My vote is try it if you haven't done it before.  Keep your expectations low (in agreement with most on the board) and you will probably think it's pretty cool.  I don't do it very often, but it's worth trying at least once.

[bradp]

The only time I was impressed with fireworks was when I was departing one fourth with my then future wife in a C172 after doing a night landing to maintain currency or something and flying around to the towns to see if we could see some displays.  Some kids were shooting off fireworks from a parking lot at the  departure end of the runway unbeknownst to me  ... they went off to the right and above us as we were departing. That was ... spirited. 

[Boilermonkey]

It was soooo cool. Maybe I'm easily entertained.

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[RLCarter]

28 minutes ago, Boilermonkey said:

It was soooo cool. Maybe I'm easily entertained.
 

Glad you enjoyed it, it definitely a different view

[JohnB]

My night fireworks flight was one of my favorite. I would do it around the LA basin where there are so many firework shows, that you're flying over what looks like a blanket of them.

Also, from the ground, you only see them in two dimensions, and they appear like circles or lines. From the air, you can see that the circles are all 3D SPHERES, and they look absolutely gorgeous. Despite how high they look from the ground they only go up I would estimate 200-500 feet, so youll be well above them at any legal altitude above populated areas but I recall being between 1500 to 2500 feet over most of them. Above that I think would be a bit high to see all of the 3D effects, but still nice!