Park News
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Da Vinci Flight New monorail at Europa-Park
The first of a new-style hanging car monorail from ETF Ride Systems has opened at Europa-Park, Rust, Germany. Volo da Vinci (da Vinci Flight) is located in the Italy area of the Black Forest park and features a double in-line vertical track with interactive four-seater ride vehicles.
Each passenger is provided with their own pedal, with which they can control the ride speed and movement of an overhead propeller. As well as a rotating back propeller, themed elements include back fins, decorative suitcases, LED candlelights, a compass in front of the vehicle and more. Europa-Park has put a lot of effort into theming the station, while the trees through which the vehicles travel provide a relaxing, scenic ride for each passenger.
The total track length is around 300 metres and 10 vehicles are in use, giving the ride hourly capacity for around 450 park guests. The cars are driven by variable speed regulated motors and once leaving the station travel at a fixed speed of 0.7-metres per second, increasing to up to 2.2-metres per second on the main track, according to how hard passengers pedal. When no one is pedalling, an on-board sound system encourages them to
Gipfel-Stürmer at Freizeitpark Ruhpolding
The Bavarian amusement park Freizeitpark Ruhpolding has a new rollercoaster, courtesy of Gerstlauer Amusement Rides. The ride is the German manufacturer’s first Shuttle Family Coaster and goes by the name Gipfel-Stürmer (“Summit Striker”).
As soon as the restraints close, the 14 riders are hoisted backwards up the first hill and, after a few seconds of waiting, the train rushes back down the hill, past the waiting guests in the station and through a
wild course featuring banked curves, airtime and sudden changes of direction. At the end of the course the train climbs a second hill, slows down and stops one more time. This time the riders will see nothing but the end of track and the sky as the train travels backwards throughout the remainder of the ride. Back in the station, magnetic brakes bring the train full of happy riders to a safe stop.
www.freizeitpark.by
Linnanmäki’s new coaster is god of the skies
Maurer Söhne’s latest SkyLoop coaster has opened at Linnanmäki in Helsinki, Finland. During the ride, passengers experience features including a “Humpty Bumpty” lift, 360º corkscrew and a vertical drop at 105km/h. The 52-metre-tall (151ft) construction resembling a twisted “wheel” has been given the name Ukko – god of the skies, weather and storms. It’s a fitting title for a ride that was assembled over the winter in temperatures as low as -25ºC.
Like Kirnu, the park’s Intamin ZacSpin coaster, Ukko is high on impact but small on footprint. This was one of the reasons for park officials selecting the ride for this cramped city centre venue. Among the park’s other coasters, Linnanmäki boasts a Maurer spinning coaster called Salama.
push. If they do not, the vehicle will automatically speed up to a medium speed after a set amount of time to avoid queuing of vehicles on the track. For the first time on any ride worldwide, ETF has implemented a new “dynamic block zone” system. While many track-based attractions feature block zones to avoid collisions, a fun twist can be offered if the vehicles are allowed to approach close to one another. Two “readers” in each car pick up the exact positions by means of a unique code on the track, and a minimum distance is kept thanks to PLC software and various hardware. This system, which reduces the need for masses of cables, has been approved by the TÜV in Munich. The complete ride was designed, built and installed within nine months, after a deal was signed between Europa-Park and ETF last October.
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AUGUST 2011
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