Polyp (ride)
| polyp | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Data | |
| Floor space | 23 m × 22.5 m |
| height | 10 m |
| Flight circle diameter | 17.60 m |
| capacity | 25 gondolas, 50 people |
| total weight | approx. 60 tons |
| Musical performance | 2 × 3000 watts |
| Connected load | 140 kW (95 kW power, 45 kW light) |
| light | 15,000 lighting points 150 spotlights 12 power strobes |
The Polyp is a circular ride . It is very widespread to this day and can often be found at public festivals and amusement parks.
history
The first model of this ride was named Polyp. It was built in 1962 by the Klaus company and had significantly fewer directions of movement than today's variants of this ride. It is no longer in use, but the name Polyp is still used today on some rides of this type. By 1980 a Polyp was also built by Bakker and Ihle. However, Ihle only built the gondolas, this polyp looks very similar to the Klaus polyp. In contrast to this, however, there are still some versions to be found mainly in the Netherlands.
In 1968 Schwarzkopf GmbH developed the first amusement ride with the name Monster I. In contrast to the first variant, the Monster had four directions of movement: The entire complex rotated while the "arms" rose and fell eccentrically . At the same time, the gondola crosses and the individual gondolas turned on their own axis. Only two copies of this variant were built. They were too heavy for mobile use. The first copy was installed in the Swedish Liseberg Park, the second in the Spanish amusement park “Casa de Campo”.
The Monster II followed in 1971: It had five arms, at the end of which four gondolas were individually rotatable and thus offered space for up to 40 people. Three Schwarzkopf Monster II are still on the road in Germany in 2010, one is in the Slagharen theme park in the Netherlands. A total of five copies were built.
In 1979 the Monster III finally appeared. The first example went to the Munich company Aigner as the "giant crab". It is equipped with a flat podium, as in the Monster 2 the gondolas also turned on their own axis. Like Monster II, it has four directions of movement. The number of gondolas per arm has been increased to five, so up to 50 people can take part in a ride at the same time. Until the Schwarzkopf company went bankrupt, a number of rides of this model were manufactured. The Kinzler company from Stuttgart temporarily owned a double, and the Markmann company from Bonn currently operates two of these models, the Krake and the Octopussy. Some Schwarzkopf Monster III are on the road in the Benelux countries. The different versions have always been optically adapted to current fashion trends.
construction
The amusement ride consists of a rotatable middle section from which five arms extend in a high arc to over the ground. The arms come together in the middle part of the ride and can move up and down on a curved steel bearing. While driving, the steel bearing is raised, whereby the arms are brought into an inclined position. As a result, the arms hang about two meters above the floor on one side, while on the other side they almost touch the floor. At the end of each arm there is also a rotating gondola cross to which - depending on the design - four or five gondolas are attached, which also rotate around their own axis and offer space for two people. In older types, such as those produced until the early 1970s, the gondolas and gondola crosses may not be movable. The middle section, the gondola crosses and the gondolas themselves are driven by electric motors. In addition, the gondolas can also be rotated freely (see also typical driving elements ).
There are also versions in which the arms are individually raised hydraulically (see picture).
Typical driving elements
The combination of the rotating middle section, eccentric steel bearing, rotating gondola crosses and rotating gondolas creates an extremely asymmetrical movement for the passenger, which is typical of this ride.
By skilfully shifting their body weight, a passenger can also set the gondola to rotate manually , thereby enhancing the unique driving experience. This requires great effort against the centrifugal forces, which is why this process is also referred to as "sporting".
The speeds are subject to constant change while driving in order to prevent stable movement. In this way, the gondolas keep rotating, the forces that occur change every second and the journey is kept exciting.
Active rides from the Schwarzkopf company
The rides from the Schwarzkopf company, which for many years was the only manufacturer of this ride, are discussed here. These were sold under the names Monster, Monster II and Monster III. Only two copies of the first version were made; one was exported to Sweden to Liseberg Park under the name Blackfisken and one to Spain.
| Name of the ride | Type | operator | particularities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big monsters | Monster III | Krameyer company | During the winter break of 2014/15, the store was extensively redesigned. With a newly painted rear wall by Atelier EK and new, modern LED lettering, the ride started at the Hamburg Spring Cathedral in 2015. The entire lighting has now been converted to LED technology |
| The octopus | Monster III | 1980-2012
Uhse from Bremen 2012-present Markmann from Bonn |
The octopus was completed in 1980 and is still performing under this name to this day. During the winter break of 2000/2001, an extensive renovation took place: modern airbrush technology was used for the decoration, the sound system was improved by digital technology, the control system switched from conventional relay-controlled technology to electronics, and the drive system improved. The octopus is now fully electronic.
Another renovation followed in 2006, in which the number of gondola girders was reduced from five per gondola cross (as is usual with the Monster III) to just four gondola girders. Thus the octopus offers space for up to 40 people at the same time. After the central structure of the octopus was damaged in a traffic accident in 2008, the paintwork was renewed and the opportunity was used to replace the conventional light bulbs with LED technology. The connection value of the octopus is therefore slightly below the connection value mentioned above due to the more energy-saving lighting technology. In addition, the badly damaged caps were replaced with normal ones, as the original Schwarzkopf caps are no longer available. During the renovations, the octopus was replaced by other monsters such as Big Monster at many fairs. The Uhse company and its octopus were a regular showman at various folk festivals, including the Bremen Freimarkt and the Oldenburger Kramermarkt . The octopus is now owned by the Markmann company from Bonn. |
| Beach Monster (formerly Flower Swing) | Monster ii | Hoffmann company | - |
| Happy monster | Monster ii | Zinnecker company | - |
| Octopussy | Monster III | Markmann and Sons | The business, which originally ran under Barth & Markmann, has been extensively redesigned in recent years. "Spinning dolphins" move on the arms. The back wall was completely repainted and provided with an extraordinary number of decorative and light elements. New gondolas in an exclusive design with LED make this shop an eye-catcher . In addition, their painting contains real mother-of-pearl to create a "slippery" look.
The company Markmann regularly builds its business at the Anna-Kirmes in Düren, on the Pützchensmarkt in Bonn, in Bocholt and Rhede but also travels far to southern Germany z. B. Nuremberg and Dachau. |
| XXL octopus (formerly Overdrive) | Monster ii | Müller company | previously Renoldi "Great vortex" |
| The polyp | Monster III | Dreßen company | A ride from the Monster III series is operated under the name Polyp: that of the Dreßen company, formerly Kaiser> Ruoff> Bruch> Friedrich. |
| Polyp XXL | Monster III | Massel company |
This polyp was originally operated by the company Radlinger (Oktoberfest), but was sold to a park in France in 2008 (according to Kirmes & Park-Revue, born 2010). The business is now traveling back to Germany and is operated by the company Massel. |
| Aqua giant polyp | Monster III | Lauwers company | For a long time it belonged to the Hoster company, but at the end of 2008 it was sold to the showmen Lauwers in Belgium. |
Former Schwarzkopf rides
| Name of the ride | Type | operator | particularities |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okti (formerly giant octopus) | Monster III | Heide-Park Soltau | In this ride, the central tip of the ride was adorned by the Heide Park mascot, the bear Wumbo, instead of the usual monster or octopus heads; it reappeared for sale on the internet on January 25, 2019 |
In addition to these classic Polyp versions, there were also some newer versions of this ride, such as the Sombrero system, which is in operation in Salau / Spain and can accommodate up to 10 people per gondola.
Rides from other manufacturers
This amusement ride is now produced by many other manufacturers who operate under a wide variety of names. Some examples: Beach Polyp, Octopus, Super Spider, Jumbo Polyp, Pirate's Curse.
Schwarzkopf son Wieland also sent monster variants into the race, with small Viking ships (in Park Asterix in France) or with small road cruisers (under the name of Jukebox in Liseberg Park in Sweden). Wieland Schwarzkopf built a modification in 1998 with suspended gondolas (Sound-Factory from Kinzler-Menzel), which was not operated for a long time after technical problems and was rebuilt in 2009 by Gerstelauer, then under the Aigner company as “Parkour “Went on the trip again.
hazards
Waiting guests are spread around the entire platform in this ride (as with many other carousels). Since there is only a partial barrier on most models, there is a theoretical risk of people stepping into the flight radius of the gondolas and causing serious injuries. However, such accidents are very rare. Some shops are therefore also equipped with cameras so that the operator has an optimal overview of the road from the cash register.
Accidents
Although the rides of this type are considered quite safe, there have been several incidents in the past. In 1988, for example, a 13-year-old schoolboy was thrown out of a gondola in the Polyp ride at Heide Park in Soltau and seriously injured. In 1983, a pensioner and her 2-year-old grandson fell out of their gondola while the ride was in progress, the pensioner died shortly afterwards. However, there was no evidence of a malfunction in the ride in either case.
On October 28, 1993, an 8-year-old was thrown out of the octopus on the Freimarkt in Bremen and seriously injured. A technical defect in the safety bar could not be clearly clarified.
On October 13, 2009 there was an accident at the fair in Niederkassel-Rheidt with the Octopussy ride from the Markmann company. Apparently a defective safety bar was the cause of the accident, in which an 8-year-old boy was thrown out of the gondola and seriously injured.
On the evening of October 27, 2011, there was an accident on the Bremer Freimarkt when the suspension of a gondola on the octopus tore and hurled against several spectators on the edge of the platform. A total of nine people were injured, some seriously.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Big Monster - Technical data on bigmonster.de ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ The octopus - story on die-krake.de
- ^ Rides in the Polyp category at schaustellerbetriebe.de
- ↑ Ton Koppei: Monster I&II . In: Kirmes & Park-Revue . No. 3 , 1998.
- ↑ Ton Koppei: Monster III . In: Kirmes & Park-Revue . No. 5 , 1998.
- ↑ Blackfisken / Monster 1, 1968-1978
- ↑ Big Monster ( Memento of the original from October 9, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on bigmonster.de
- ↑ Truck with the carnival octopus overturns on nwzonline.de
- ↑ https://www.usedamusement-rides.com/ridesforsale/schwarzkopf-monster3-polyp/
- ↑ The future of Schwarzkopf on schwarzkopf.coaster.net
- ↑ Kirmes & Park-Revue 5/98 - 11/98 - 7-09
- ↑ Press releases about Heide-Park Soltau on foni.net
- ↑ https://taz.de/!1438135/?goMobile2=1568160000000
- ↑ Michael Wrobel: Fun fair accident in Rheidt: Was the safety bar defective? In: general-anzeiger-bonn.de. October 14, 2008, accessed September 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Press release No. 0452 from the Bremen police
