Flying Theatres
www.parkworld-online.com
Simworx Mini Flying Theatre
technology take second place. Assuming they do their job well, working smoothly and reliably in operation, then the focus of our guests is on that experience. However, a poor ride or poor technology will let down the greatest of films and spoil the whole experience. “A flying theatre project needs a client who is
inspired, a ride manufacturer, a storyteller and film maker and a technology company like KLT working alongside architects, structural engineers and other specialists to make that theatre work. When completed, it needs operational staff that are thrilled to do what they do, usually a pre-show or two to start the story process and a way to move visitors through the space, quickly, effortlessly and logically as they race to the shop and in many cases, back on the ride. “So, to answer one of the questions we were asked – ‘what is involved in bringing a Flying
Theatre experience to life’ – it is teamwork with a good sprinkling of passion. Every project is unique and has its own criteria based on size and layout, throughput, type of effects needed, content, operational issues like single floor loading or multiple floors, CGI, live storyline or a mix of the two! I will let others more talented explore and debate the options, but when it comes to the technology, we tend to apply innovation, quality, reliability and budget as key criteria when we start. “From the early days of a project, we get
involved to review the ride layout with the screen, and whilst the technical elements again are important, we actually start with the ride experience and giving every rider ‘the best seat in the house’, which means careful layout and adjusting the ride and screen along with seat angles and locations. The technology we have tended to use over the years is projection technology, and to gain
Terry Monkton
the best resolution and best quality of view, we utilise multiple projectors with very sophisticated automatic alignment and blending along with very high-quality media players. We need a system that gives the quality but works reliably for many shows a day, every day for many years and that takes engineering. Sound is not a poor partner in any flying theatre experience; it enhances the ride and brings the whole thing alive, so we utilise screen technology that is acoustically transparent along with multiple channel sound processing to move the action through our visitors.” Commenting on how SimEx-Iwerks brings its
flying theatres to life, Mike Fueuh says, “Well thirty years of ride simulator experience helps; our internal attraction design and manufacturing capabilities also help. Having expertise in flying film production, motion and effects programming, theatre operations experience and our worldwide technical support are clear advantages too.” Simworx completed its first Mini Flying Theatre
installation last year, for Bao Son Paradise Park, but it initially began its build back in April 2019 after the design stage was completed and the major materials were delivered. “It was assembled right here in Kingswinford at our on-site facility, beginning with the mechanical, electrical and hydraulic components”, says CEO Terry Monkton. “Once it was built it had to go through rigorous
testing and programming to get it ready to ship,” says Terry. “This is when we must tune the motion profiling to match the movement of the flying theatre, testing multiple scenarios to check how the programmes respond to different variables while being fully loaded or empty and how this effect it’s behaviour. Finally, we had to complete an internal and external FAT (Factory Acceptance Test) before we could begin to dismantle the ride for shipment. “This is also when we at Simworx got to try out
FlyOver Iceland, Brogent
the ride for the first time and really get a feel for what it’s like when onboard. This is the fun part for us, and we were able to give our opinions on the movement and the experience overall. “It took around a month for the Mini Flying
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