Jubilation at world's biggest Catherine Wheel is fired in Mqabba

Mr Mario Micallef

Jun 20th 2011, 09:13

Mario, l-familja Dingli li hadet hsieb din ir-raddiena harget l-flus kollha mill-but u ma qghadux jittalbu 1c minghand hadd...l-unur li gabu ghalihom u wisq iktar ghas-Socjeta Muzikali Madonna tal-Gilju

MaryJo Camenzuli

Jun 20th 2011, 10:29

Mr Bezzina,

To do something like this the enthusiasts relied on professionals:
an architect who designed the structure and
a commercial company that makes iron structures, including this one, and that is located- someone was telling me - in ta' Kandja, Siggiewi.

All this was actually clear in the difference between last year
(when the wind mangled the alumunium structure) and this year.

These enthusiasts have already said they
paid thousands of euros for the
professional advice and for the commercial building of the structure.

When you are intent on doing something like this,
you just save up and pay, Mr Bezzina.
It has absolutely nothing to do with electricity bills.

Futhermore, in villages where there is keen festa rivalry
between different villages and even within the same village,
these enthusiasts could never let last year's disappointment be the end of it.
They had to make sure they pull it off this year.

It is similar to football and to any other pursuit where people, yes,
pay vast sums of money
even though they might grumble about an electricity or any other bill.

J. Debono

Jun 19th 2011, 19:03

Can you shut up!!

Who do you think you are. Bred in a village where there are no fireworks, I actually hate fireworks.

On the other hand I have to admire the professionalism and determination of these people, only so that you try to find ways and means to criticise!!

For your information, this is the largest Catherine wheel who did a 360 degree rotation, and therefore is considered a world record. Any other comments are superfluos.

P.S. You call it whatever yo want, the rest of the world call it a CATHERINE WHEEL.

Mr Tony Camilleri

Jun 19th 2011, 22:31

Professor Pulè gave a good description of what is involved.
As Napoleon I believed had said, The greatest battle is to make the ignorant understand.

ivan coleiro

Jun 19th 2011, 23:57

To elaborate on your very interesting analysis .... the structure was designed to create the stiffest form with the least material . That is why the end part switches to a braced truss.They are not just spokes but trusses that were intended to be braced in two planes but ended up being braced in only one plane when it was considered stiff enough for the job .
It is quite true that the structure has ample reserve strength and can easily be extended to a greater diameter . The joints were designed for that and is certainly on the agenda... The critical issue however remains the design of the shaft and the actual connection to the lightweight structure .. since all members were designed to be as lilght as possible a system had to be devised to spread the considerable moment generated directly to them wihout rendering them critical

Joe Fenech

Jun 20th 2011, 01:23

J Debono: how low could you be. Dr Pulé is a big expert!

Mr Carmel Pule'

Jun 20th 2011, 01:51

The Catharine wheel, pinwheel, trumpilyo, is a firework named after the instrument of torture, the breaking wheel, on which, legend has it, St. Catherine was martyred. In Maltese, they call them "Irdieden". The wheel fired in Mqabba on the 18th of June 2011 and was 105 ft in diameter not 85 ft. as shown in the above article.
About twenty years ago, before the feast of San Duminku in Vittoriosa, Birgu, Geitu ta Mabbli and his brothers where thinking of erecting a flag mast 130 feet high above the Vittoriosa Bastion. This is the longest flagpost in Malta I believe. They were having difficulty with the system of raising this flagpost and so I assisted them by designing a flagpost raising structure, where one man, working alone, would raise the 130 feet long mast. They still use the same system which I devised and I believe they still hold that record.
Incidentally I lived at Mqabba during the war days along the narrow street straight ahead of the church, I can still remember the smell of the fresh SILLA as my brothers and I played "fil benniena tal -karrettun fir remissa taz-ziju" If next year someone would like to build a bigger Catherine wheel, I would suggest to ease the stress on the horizontal shaft and the associated bearings, one could build two vertical masts whereby the central shaft would be anchored at two supported end points with bearings at each end of the shaft instead of the cantelever effect as shown in the picture. the vertical masts would have tensioned cables or ventijiet and so they too would be lighter in construction.The distance between the two vertical masts would permit the depth or thickness of the wheel to be greater thus the radial spokes would have a greater moment of Inertia in a direction parallel with the central shaft. The diagonalled cables in the plane of the wheel, as they are, will hold the wheel, but that design will not transmit torque from the wheel to the shaft or vici versa. Another design for the tensioned struts would be required. I do not think there is any need for the two hexagon structure, tensioned struts would be enough to hold the whole structure together.
It could be made lighter and much bigger.
Please note that I am not critisizing, but with some assistance from professional structural engineers, you can make bigger and better Catherine wheels. Poor Santa Katerina, I am sure she is wrigling in her grave everytime a Catherine wheel is fired, the bigger the wheel the bigger the torture for her, I guess. I wonder how many people say a little Requem Aterna for Saint Catherine , every time they fire one of these wheels in remembrance of her death, for after all that is what the wheel is all about, funny that we are expected to enjoy looking at such a wheel of torture, for that was its true origin
I bet someone will fire bullets at me for my last inconsiderate sentence, but hat is Maltese Religion after all, all our festas are simply having fun and nothing to do with the origin and the values we are supposed to think of during the religious feast. What a pity we have forgotten the real meaning of the fireworks in our religious feasts. After Mqabba I moved to Birgu and there again San Lawrenz was burnt on a fire which we remind the Vittoriosani of that cruel death through the fireworks display they hold on the 10th of august, but how many people think of the agony our saints went through due to the use of fire for their Martyrdom. Many do not care as long as the fire burns, no association with their origin is ever made, they do not care anyway, and they do not like to be reminded of it , as it kills their enjoyment of the fireworks at the local festa!! Our emotions are no longer sensitive enough to the origins of our traditions and we laugh when we should cry really, really!

Jesmond Micallef

Jun 20th 2011, 02:44

Greetings Professor Pule',

Indeed, the principles of lightweight design which secure stiffness and strength. The geodetic structure was also used quite successfully on the Vickers Wellington WW2 bomber by Barnes Wallis. The aircraft was covered in fabric in order to streamline it aerodynamically. This form of construction is called "non stressed skin" construction where the structural loading, hence the stresses are taken up by the underlying structure beneath the fabric covering. A massive effort on the manufacturing side though.

http://knolik.com/pictures/00/00/0000233.jpg

Yes, observations in nature allows us to analyse it's shapes and forms in order to secure a solution which is both lightweight and effective. The various crystaline shapes and compactions found in metalurgical lattice structures determines a material's specific properties, whether in tension or in compression, but not just. The imperfections found at the joints or boundaries of such lattice formations determines a material's resilience to fracture, which we somehow translate into structural construction too. An assembled part has many boundaries, thus a crack in one of the sub components would not propagate onto the next. Still solid piece integral construction negates the use of additional holes, hence lessening the potential for fracture. Single crystal blades used in aero gas turbine engines also comes to mind here too. Literally, a blade is "grown" into shape. Material science and structural mechanics have alot in common and its mainly geometry.

Yes, I join you in congratulating these enthusiasts on their undertaking here. The mechanisms they use with self made cog wheels are quite ingenious too. I am particularly curious about what sort of joint did they use along the structure. Tend to favour pin jointed structures, most especially if higher speeds would need to be achieved.

ivan coleiro

Jun 20th 2011, 10:31

Interesting remarks on the structural and cultural nature of the wheel. For the record , the structure weighs at 2.8kg/sqm... The concept of twin mast would certainly have made life easier but was considered a no go by the fireworks enthusiasts as the front mast would have obstructed the view . ...culturally i suppose it would no longer classify as a Catherine wheel...
Tensioned masts approach could certainly deliver a better weight to area ratio but these structures do not lend themselves very readily to being assembled by amateurs . The hybrid truss structure was assembled on site in under two days and was installed on its perch in a single lift in under fifteen minutes.The logistics of a project run on an entirely volunteer workforce have to be reckoned with in undertakings of this nature...

J. Debono

Jun 20th 2011, 12:01

@ Joe Fenech

6 billion people call it a Catherine Wheel, and your 'expert Pule', is contradicting them.

Who is low?? He should just congratulate them and stop there, nobody needs his 'expert' analyses. If he thinks he's better, he should build a 'Catherine Wheel' himself and SHOW us how it's done, not TELL us how it's done.

Mr Andre Xuereb

Jun 19th 2011, 16:16

Is-sufarelli huma llegali biss jekk jinharqu mill-idejn fl-abitat!! Go ghalqa, tista tahraq raddiena 107 ft, ma tistghax tahraq suffara?! ;)

Mr David Mangion

Jun 20th 2011, 09:40

According to the words of the official from the Guiness book of records, who was present on the night, this Catherine Wheel had a staggering diameter of 105 feet.

Thanks Andy for your congrats. This goes to show that the Maltese fireworks industry, gives a huge helping hand to Maltese tourism, and our compatriots who oppose it, just cannot imagine the amount of economic added value that it brings to our island.

Albert Spiteri

Jun 19th 2011, 16:05

There is a crowd of some 20 people doing the stupid-monkey-dance only a few metres away from the wheel. They simply should not be there. These last few years I was led to believe that controls have been introduced and that these people who work on these spectacles are professional in their work and their attitudes. I see I was mistaken. So I say that fireworks should be banned altogether because the people involved are simply too thick headed to listen to sense and reason.

Mr C Busuttil

Jun 19th 2011, 18:09

@Sur Spiteri

The thick headed people you unjustly label are indeed professionals to such extent that Maltese pyrotechnics is the best WORLDWIDE. There is no abuse of the regulations since they have the permits and licences to be there. Fireworks don't set off by themselves somebody needs to be there to let them off.

Instead of banning fireworks what about taking away the driving licences of about 60% of all drivers in Malta who drive and use their mobiles at the same time. They are a danger not only fot themselves but also for others not like those in Mqabba who maybe risked without endangering others.

Take my advice take off this superior attitude you and some others have regarding people you don't even know, X'tahseb li int Leonardo da Vinci jew xi nobbli superjuri fuq il-proxxmu, x'razza ta' nies intom

leonard lombardo

Jun 20th 2011, 01:15

@albert spiteri can you tell me what is your job and what kind of stupid -monkey -dance you do cause all you tried to do is humiliate these guys,with your comment .these guys have put their heart,soul ,sweat , blood ,etc.etc down the line, what have you done with yours.i hope you are not one of those people who when you hear or read about someone who has made a world record starts doing the ooohhsss and aaahhhhsss

Ms G. Farrugia

Jun 19th 2011, 11:52

kritika ingusta!

Sylvana Camilleri

Jun 19th 2011, 12:01

imma kif hawn min hu daqshekk vojt li jiddejjaq jara nies li hadmu tant biex jilhqu l-ghan taghhom, jifirhu?! il-flus ingabru minn nies li tawhom minn qalbhom bhal ma jinghataw ghal affarijiet ohra, u l-istorbju, jekk dejqek, stajt dejjem titlaq 'il bod halli ma tisimghux! Prosit kbira lil dawn in-nies li minflok iqattghu il-hin liberu taghhom jixxemxu jew jaraw xi partita football fuq sufan, iffurmaw pjan biex jiksru record u rnexxielhom. Komplu paxxuna hbieb!

Mr B. Fenech

Jun 19th 2011, 12:07

Someone doesn't know how to appreciate a different form of art??

Mr Christian Camilleri

Jun 19th 2011, 13:59

LIVE AND LET LIVE!! SUR MALCOLM!

Mr R.E. Saliba

Jun 19th 2011, 14:45

Ghala dan is-sarkazmu? Spjega ftit flokk tfajjar kumment bla sens.

M M

Jun 20th 2011, 19:27

Xi storbju smajt Mr.Mizzi???jien li noqghod ezatt fejn inhadmet ir rediena nista nejd li mill familja Dingli ma rajt xejn hlief rispet bhall dejjem u ghal kemm kienu jkunu jahdmu ghal sieghat twal u kienu jkunu hafna persuni dejjem gabu rispett lil girien ghal kemm jien minix partitarja ta l istess festa .Jekk qijghad tejd ghal xi istorbju li sara waqt il hruq tar rediena ..x tistenna wara daqs dawk granet ta hidma u sieghat twal li qataw biex gabu dan l unur .PROSIT FAMILJA DINGLI!!

Charlie Borg

Jun 19th 2011, 08:46

Ghax inti ma teqridx, Giovann! Mur, erga' orqod.

Ms G Schembri

Jun 19th 2011, 11:40

Those people close to the wheel are "the genuine artisans who risk their lives and rack their brains all the year round" they were in the field near the Catherine wheel to start the wheel and all the other fireworks. They have practically living in that field for the past week. It is understandable, that they celebrated as soon as it was obvious that their efforts were a success, especially after last year's dissappointment.

Mark Jones

Jun 19th 2011, 12:27

...Particularly as one of them has either a cigarette or a firework in his mouth!!!!!

John Bezzina

Jun 19th 2011, 13:48

Most probably those near the wheel are the actual people who built it. They are just expressing their joy. Call it a pitch invasion :)

Charlie Borg

Jun 19th 2011, 08:45

Ok, prosit lil kulhadd, imma ma nghaggbuhiex, taf! 'Pagna ohra gdid fl-Istorja ta' pajjizna'!!!!

Melvin Borg

Jun 19th 2011, 10:18

Minix qed nghaggibha, Sur Borg. Qed nesprimi dak li nhoss :) Jekk joghgbok aqrah, jekk le affarik. Issa la naqilbu l-energija ghal wahda nukleari nikteb li gej:

"GRAJJA LI SE TIBQA' MFAKKRA B'ITTRI KBAR TAD-DEHEB FL-ISTORJA MODERNA T'ART TWELIDNA!"

U wara ejja kkummentali ta. Hehe.

Il-jum it-tajjeb sieheb. :)

Mr C Busuttil

Jun 19th 2011, 12:21

Sur Borg,

huwa fatt li l-Maltin biex jirbhu xhaga bil-piroteknika biss, ghax rebh f'kwalunkwe settur iehor anke fejn hemm il-professuri tibqa biss bit-tama.

Iva l-bierah inkitbet pagna sabieha, vera li mhux il-kisba ta' l-indipendenza, imma pagna ta' kisba tal-hila u l-kapacitajiet taghna l-Maltin fejn is-soltu nfallu f'kollox.

PS- Jien mhux mill-Imqabba imma kburi li bis-sahha taghhom Malta ghamlet isem ghal darba f'xhaga

Mr R.E. Saliba

Jun 19th 2011, 14:43

@ Charlie Borg
Hallih ha jifrah. Dik id-dinja tieghu u ta' hafna Maltin ohra... dinja sabiha li taghti valur lil din it-tradizzjoni Maltija. Ghalih hekk tfisser. Min int biex taghjru ezagerat?

J. Debono

Jun 19th 2011, 08:09

Are you serious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or just plain stupid.

How can you compare a Catherine wheel built by professional voluntary enthusiasts, to a multi billion company!!

Mr Carmel Pule'

Jun 19th 2011, 12:47

Would a large wooden spoke across what we call a diameter , plus two suffarelli at each tip be considered as a Catherine wheel for record purposes? In Holland, through history amateurs but wooden windmills bigger than 85 feet. All they needed is a Maltese person to attach a couple of suffarelli, or perhaps we could use the windmill at Zurrieq or Qrendi tax-xagharolla!

Mr R.E. Saliba

Jun 19th 2011, 14:40

It's a world record, kill-joy.

Mr R.E. Saliba

Jun 19th 2011, 14:39

It's a trade-off. One supposes you have mixed feelings about driving your car too.