Enterprise (ride)

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Enterprise is a type of amusement ride that can be found at festivals and amusement parks and has been produced by several manufacturers since 1972.

background

Established in 1972, the Enterprise was one of the most popular overhead rides at German folk festivals in the 1970s and 1980s. Two-person gondolas that pivot laterally are attached to a wheel rim with a diameter of 18 to 22 meters. The motor accelerates the wheel to 14 to 17 revolutions per minute, whereby the passenger is pressed into the seat by the resulting centrifugal force. Then the arm rises with the wheel to an angle of almost 90 degrees. In this position, the passenger experiences all four phases of the loop while sitting freely . No personal restraint systems are used, the passengers are held in their seat by the acceleration alone. However, the gondolas are locked with a grille or a sliding door during the journey. Up until the beginning of the 1990s, over ten of these mobile rides were in use in Germany; two alone were guests at the Munich Oktoberfest every year, including 1990.

Manufacturers and variants

Anton Schwarzkopf

The first Enterprise of Schwarzkopf GmbH was built in 1972 and celebrated its premiere in August 1973 at the Bad Kreuznach fair with the Tolisch family of showmen. Like the Enterprise II, which had only one other podium, this version had 16 gondolas for a total of 32 people. In 1975 Enterprise III came onto the market with 21 gondolas. In 1978 the company presented the Enterprise IV, again with 16 gondolas, as a mobile and stationary version. Schwarzkopf built a total of more than 20 rides of this type. A Schwarzkopf Enterprise can be found in the Dutch Attractiepark Slagharen .

Emiliana Luna Park

Another manufacturer is the company Emiliana Luna Park from Italy. Similar to the Huss model from 1975, the ride has 20 gondolas in which up to 40 people can ride per trip. The amusement ride is still in production today and can be delivered as a park version as well as a travel shop. The prototype was opened in 2009 under the name Kehrä in the Finnish amusement park Linnanmäki near Helsinki.

Heinz Fähtz

The vehicle and machine factory Heinz Fähtz from Edelsberg near Limburg also produced two replicas of the Schwarzkopf Enterprise. A small model with 16 gondolas and a large model with 20 gondolas. The facility was available as a park and travel shop. The last known model has been in the American theme park Darien Lake in New York since 1983 .

Huss Rides

Since 1975, both mobile and stationary systems have been produced by Huss as an improved replica of the Schwarzkopf store. The Huss carousels have 20 gondolas and a hydraulically driven lifting arm. In total, Huss produced 74 rides of this type. The only transportable Huss Enterprise still operated in Germany today is owned by the Zehle family from Munich , bears the name Mondlift , is able to drive backwards and has been back at the Munich Oktoberfest since 2005 . A permanently installed system can be found, for example, in the leisure area Geiselwind . In the 1980s a Huss Enterprise was also installed in the Vienna Prater in front of the Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel . Occasionally, showmen from the Netherlands make guest appearances with an Enterprise at German fairgrounds.

UFO

In 1978 Huss presented the UFO ride . Similar to the Round-up ride, and based on the already familiar components of the Enterprise, the UFO ride has twelve gondolas arranged in a circle, in which four people can stand with their faces to the inside during the ride. The only system in Germany that is still in operation today can still be found on some fairgrounds under the name Alpha 1 by Nienburg showman Peeters.

Sky Lab

In 1979, Huss introduced a larger version of the Enterprise called Sky Lab . In addition to a higher capacity, the ride also has larger dimensions. The ride reaches a total height of over 26 meters while the gondolas are swung out. Up to 60 people can travel in 15 passenger cabins per trip, which results in a theoretical hourly capacity of 1,700 people. In total, only three systems were manufactured, one mobile and two stationary systems, some of which are still in operation today. They can be found in the Canadian theme park Canada's Wonderland as The Orbiter and in the Colombian theme park Parque Nacional del Café as Ciclón . The system last operated as a Sky Loop in Israel's Luna Park Tel Aviv was scrapped in summer 2018. This is what was once the only travel version of this type of system and therefore of the Skylab that traveled in Germany up until the early 1990s.

Fly away

In 1999, Huss introduced the Fly Away ride . The principle is the same as with the classic Enterprise ride with the difference that the passengers do not sit in the gondola, but lie down. In total, Huss manufactured four systems. The ride has 18 double gondolas, in which a total of 36 people can ride per trip. This variant was previously only available as a stationary system for amusement parks and is no longer produced. The existing systems are u. a. in the French amusement park La Récré des 3 Curés as Le Spoontus , as well as in the American amusement park Six Flags New England as Nightwing and in Yanfusun Fancyland in Taiwan as a timeclock . The fourth facility was until recently in the Pleasure Island Family Theme Park in Great Britain, but since the park was closed in 2016, the whereabouts of this facility are so far unknown.

Enterprise 2G / 2GH
Enterprise
Manufacturer HUSS Rides , Bremen
Floor space 21.7 m × 18.4 m
height 18.4 m
Gondolas 20th
People per gondola 2
capacity 1200 people / h
Connected load approx. 90 kW

In August 2015, the Bremen company Huss Park Attractions presented three new models of the well-known Enterprise amusement ride, the "Enterprise 2G" (2nd generation) . These rides, designed exclusively for amusement parks, have a new design as well as new seats and driving processes and are available in three new versions: As "Enterprise 2G" , which is optionally available with classic gondolas or with newly designed spring-loaded seat gondolas, and as "Enterprise 2GH" (2nd Generation Hybrid) , which consists of half of the classic gondolas and half of the suspension seat gondolas, and the "Enterprise 2GH-Plus" (2nd Generation Hybrid, combined with a new tilt mechanism) . In this variant, the wheel rim can be moved from the upright vertical position, the well-known Enterprise movement, to a horizontal position and / or vice versa, which leads to a new driving sequence and a new driving experience. Alternatively, the rim can be held in a horizontal position while the lift arm is raised in the upright position. At a low to medium speed, the ride can also be operated as a kind of panoramic ride in this position. All three new variants can take up to 40 people per trip, which results in a theoretical hourly capacity of 1,200 people.

Other variants

A variant of the Enterprise with 16 gondolas for two passengers each is being built by various Czech manufacturers under the name Centrifuga . In contrast to the other manufacturers, the passengers sit next to each other and not one behind the other.

Accidents

On the night of August 13-14, 1981, a serious accident occurred with a Sky Lab on Hamburg Cathedral . While working on his catapult ride , the telescopic crane of the showman Norbert Witte got into the driving area of ​​the gondolas of the carousel. Seven people were killed and 15 people suffered, some serious injuries. The accident is still considered to be the most serious fair accident since the Federal Republic of Germany was founded. Norbert Witte was sentenced to one year suspended prison sentence for negligent homicide and bodily harm.

On October 17, 1983, there was an accident at the Texas State Fair in Dallas, USA , in which an 18-year-old boy died and three people were injured. At the Enterprise amusement ride, when the carousel was in the vertical position, a gondola detached itself and fell from a considerable height to the ground. The boy who sat in the gondola did not survive the accident. Seven years later, the same accident occurred at the Moerser Kirmes , when in September 1990 a gondola detached itself from the Sky Lab amusement ride and flew through the crowd below. The gondola only came to a stop several meters from the ride. Twelve people were seriously injured in the accident and a 38-year-old woman died from her serious injuries. It was already the second serious accident for the operator. He stopped using the carousel and then sold it. The carousel found its new and last home in Israel's Luna Park Tel Aviv, because it was scrapped in the summer of 2018. Today, only the existing rear wall of the amusement park in this park reminds of the former Skylab.

Another accident occurred on September 22, 2001 in Thorpe Park , UK , when a gondola bolt broke while driving on the Zodiac ride and the rear part of the gondola had become detached from the ride. A subsequent examination revealed that no original parts authorized by the manufacturer had been used. In the accident, two students who were sitting in the gondola sustained minor injuries. Two and a half years later, the Crown Court at Guildford found the park operator guilty and sentenced Merlin Entertainments Group to pay damages and pay a total of £ 100,000.

gallery

  • “Huss Enterprise”
    Zehles moon lift at the
    Munich Oktoberfest

  • “Schwarzkopf Enterprise”
    Enterprise in the Dutch Attractiepark Slagharen

  • "Huss Fly Away"
    Alakazam at the Pleasure Island
    Family Theme Park

  • “Emiliana Luna Park Enterprise”
    Kehrä in the Finnish
    leisure park Linnanmäki

  • "Ufo von Huss"
    Flying Saucer in
    Luna Park Sydney, Australia

  • “Schwarzkopf Enterprise”
    Enterprise in the Norwegian theme park TusenFryd

literature

  • Michael K. Bonhoff: Looping carousels part 3 in Kirmes & Park Revue 3/98 - ISSN  1432-3982 , issue no. 18, pp. 10-18
  • Ton Koppei among others: Made in CZ in Kirmes & Park Revue 5/08 - ISSN  1432-3982 , issue no. 130, pp. 14-19

Web links

Commons : Enterprise (ride)  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Enterprise by Emiliana Luna Park Srl (English), on: emilianalunapark.com , accessed on April 25, 2018.
  2. ↑ Kehrä at the amusement park Linnanmäki. (English), in: linnanmaki.fi , accessed April 25, 2018.
  3. ↑ a b Huss reveals Classic Ride Enterprise 2G. (English), from: hussrides.com , accessed April 25, 2018.
  4. ↑ Fly Away from the Huss machine factory. (English), from: flatrides.com , accessed April 25, 2018.
  5. ↑ Enterprise 2G / 2GH on the Huss website. (English), from: hussrides.com , accessed April 25, 2018.
  6. ↑ Texas State Fair Amusement Ride Accident 1983. , from: gendisasters.com , accessed April 25, 2018.
  7. ↑ Moerser Kirmes: Ballhaus invites fairground victims. on: rp-online.de , August 31, 2011, accessed on April 25, 2018.
  8. ↑ 'Sky Lab' ride from Huss. on: ride-index.de , accessed on April 25, 2018.
  9. ^ Huss Enterprise: Service Bulletin: Service Letter 2 , August 15, 2002.
  10. ^ Theme park accident owners fined. (English), at: news.bbc.co.uk , accessed April 25, 2018.