Spectacular New Ride Takes To The Skies!
Published: 5th June 2017A spectacular new white knuckle ride is nearing completion at Flambards Theme Park.
Sky-Force is the first genuine white knuckle ride to be unveiled in the South West and is set to open at the Helston attraction later this summer.
Suspended on a set of four giant 18-metre metal legs, the Frisbee-shaped ride exerts the equivalent of up to 3G in force on passengers while swinging them in a pendulum motion and simultaneously spinning through 360 degrees.
Weighing in at more than 56 tonnes, the ride was transported to the park using five articulated trailers; one of which had to have a special extension in order to carry the 18-metre legs.
Flambards General Manager, Richard Smith, said: “This has been a tremendous team effort and I would like to thank the local companies who have put in so much time and effort to help get this amazing ride ready for the summer.
“Firstly we had to bolt the four, two-tonne feet into their concrete bases before attaching each of the 18-metre long legs onto them.
“Three cranes, all working together, then had to carefully lift the pendulum into place, before the whole structure was hoisted into its final position overlooking the entire park.
“The last part of the ride to be added was the seating gondola at the bottom of the pendulum arm which is where the ride is driven from and the riders are seated. This weighs in at 17 tonnes and holds up to 40 people,” he added.
Sky-Force has been assembled by a team made up almost entirely of Cornish companies and sits on a 100-tonne base of reinforced Cornish concrete.
Tremain Plant Hire carried out the groundworks, Frewfix were responsible for the shuttering and concreting for the feet, Devoran Metals supplied the steelwork for the bases, Chris Brown provided the concrete pumping lorry and Chris Massie designed the ride bases.
Jon Douglass undertook the topographical survey and set out all the bases, the ride was painted by Blast Clean, transported by R and R Transport and the cranes were provided by Macsalvors.
Specialist ride engineering company Jed Hopkinson also provided expert knowledge and equipment to assist Flambards’ own in-house engineering team.
The ride is currently having its huge electric cables installed before being fully powered up for the first time. It will then undergo a programme of rigorous testing before being signed off by an independent specialist ride inspection company and officially opened to visitors in time for the summer holidays.