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Event Planning, funfair events, Funfair Rides

PWS Rides, A Manufacturer Profile

7 March 2021

Another of our profiles of amusement manufacturers. This one is actually UK based, and both manufactures and refurbishes a range of adult rides. In terms of sales and range of products it is more restricted than many of the big Italian and Dutch marquees. It is however highly regarded within the industry, especially the home market.

The company takes its name from the founder, Perrin William Stevens, who during the 1970’s built and sold rides around Europe, and even as far as the States.

Nowadays they have factories in both England and Poland, and as well as building new rides, they also refurbish older rides and equipment. Their specialities are Twists, Dodgems, Extremes and the Frogs.

PWS Sizzler Twist

One of its mainstays is the sizzler twist. This is much the same ride as the Eli Bridge ‘Scrambler’, but the PWS version is a more hi tech take on its American cousin. It is also designed to fold up onto its transport trailer, so is bigger, and more highly decorated than the Eli version.

The Extreme

Another of the rides PWS are known for. The Extreme is an update on an older ride called the orbiter. The seats were changed to a version where the riders legs dangled, giving a more thrilling feel to the motion.

Super Trooper

Another revamp of an existing ride. Paratrooper type rides have been around since the 1960’s. Originally they were built at a fixed angle. This meant the ride had to be rotated one car at a time to load and unload the passengers. Then the lifting paratrooper made an appearance. As the ride ended it was hydraulically lowered to the ground allowing all of the cars to load at the same time.

The Super Trooper took this in a new direction. The ride started on the floor to be loaded, then once active would rise into the air, it could then operate both horizontally, and tilt to give the classic paratrooper motion.

Refurb

PWS also have a steady business refurbishing and updating many of the older rides still in operation. A revamp can give a ride a new lease of life. Keeping it competitive with the newer thrill rides permeating the fairgrounds of today, whilst keeping the cost affordable.

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Event Planning, Fun Story, funfair events, Funfair Rides, General

Eli Bridge, A Manufacturer Profile

28 February 2021

Next up in our ongoing series of amusement ride manufacturer profiles, is the long established American company of Eli Bridge.

The founder W.E. Sullivan visited the original Ferris Wheel at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. He (like George Washington Gale Ferris) owned a bridge building company. After his ride he became fascinated by the ride and decided to build one of his own. In collaboration with the machinist James H Clements they began construction of their own wheel.

This debuted in Jacksonville’s Central Park and was called the Big Eli Wheel. The ride was a success and Sullivan set up a company to manufacture his wheels.

Their first wheels were powered by 6h.p. huber steam engines and came in two sizes, 45ft portable models and 50ft park based designs. There was also a 55ft ‘Aristocrat’ model.

The company was originally located in Roodhouse, Illinois, next to a railway track, allowing for easy distribution around the country. In 1919 a new purpose built building was erected in Jacksonville, also next to the railroad. The company has been there ever since. It’s 76,000 sq ft facility contains a room tall enough to erect a big wheel in.

Modern Eli Bridge Wheels

The company still produces wheels to this day. A modern Eli Bridge, is, truth told, little changed from the earlier models. Sure, there is no doubt the construction will use moderner materials and methods. But the look and feel of the ride definitely contains the same DNA. That isn’t meant as a criticism. The fact is the early formula worked well, and still works well, so why change it?

One major change is the drive system. For generations, the wheel used a wire rope, that passed through a pulley which was rotated by an electric motor. The system worked fine, and still does as hundreds of wheels around the world continue its use. It did however have a couple of disadvantages. The rope gradually stretched, and as it did the drive began to slip. Murphy’s law would dictate this happened just as you got busy. The other failure was when the rope snapped. A sensible operator would keep a spare, and could change it relatively quickly, but it is still inconvenient and would lose you revenue.

Rim Drive

To counter the wire rope issues, the company has now switched to rim drive systems. This works by attaching a flat rim to one side of the ride. An electrically driven wheel would contact the rim and as it rotated, would rotate the ride. No slipping or snapping and a much more precise regulation of the speed available from a modern inverter driven control system.

Scrambler A New Chapter

1955 brought a new chapter for the company, with the launch of its Scrambler ride, the first non wheel addition to its portfolio. Known over here as a ‘Twist’ the ride took the American amusement industry by storm, and is still prevalent at funfairs around the world today, albeit in many versions from many different manufacturers.

Other Products

They also sell a couple of children’s rides, including the quirky Spider Mania, to which I can’t really find a comparable ride in the UK.

A line of fire pits for camping expeditions and Boy Scout troops round off the companies product list.

. One quirky fact is that the word Bridge was deliberately left in the company name, so that they could still build bridges, their original business model. Though records indicate that since they started selling wheels, they have only actually built one bridge.

Check out our profile of Fabbri the Italian manufacturer.

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Fun Story

FC Fabbri Group, A Manufacturer Profile

9 January 2021

We get asked quite often where funfair rides come from. Everyone seems to think they are homemade, and to be truthful, there are a lot of children’s rides on the circuit that have been. In fact some of the most successful ride manufacturers started life this way.

For the bigger stuff though, this is beyond their scope. Thrill rides are becoming higher, faster, more daring. The engineering required for this is beyond the DIY market.

Over time a number of high tech, highly regarded companies have developed to design and build these types of rides. Sadly little of this industry remains UK based. The major players being Italian, Dutch, German and Spanish.

Over the course of the year we are going to take a look at the major players, and some of the now defunct former giants of the industry.

An Italian Entrant

The first of our spotlights falls upon FC Fabbri Group. Founded by Romolo Fabbri in Bergantino, an Italian village in 1950. The village actually became the home of a number of Italian ride producers after World War II.

The initial ride was the Avio, an aviation based ride that allowed the riders to fly their little aeroplanes up, as they rotated around the ride.

This eventually evolved into the popular Telecombat. An aerial ride that allowed the planes to rotate and face backwards towards the following car. You could then fire your guns and ‘shoot’ the opponent down. Not literally of course, what happened was the ride controls would drop his plane back down to ground level.

A New Direction

As the 1970’s rolled around, Romolo’s son, Licinio took over, and expanded sales beyond their traditional home market and into the rest of Europe and the Middle East. By this time they were producing a number of rides, including the Tagada, Kamikaze and crazy Dance to complement their Telecombats.

This expansion continued, and in the 90’s they founded FC Fabbri Park Srl, to spread the company into the world market.

Roller Coasters

By 1998 they had launched their first roller coaster. The Wacky Worm type ride

As of 2019, the group has built 24 roller coasters around the world ranging from the original Wacky Worm type through to the newer Spinning Mouse coasters.

Thrill Rides

Of late the company has found success with pendulum type thrill rides such as the booster, selling over 50 of these since 2000. This is loosely based on an old type of ride called the dive bomber, only much higher and faster. Other companies produce similar rides such as the KMG Speed and Zamperla Turbo Force.

FC Fabbri Group Giant Wheel Division

In 2002, the giant wheel division was founded with the manufacture of their first wheel over 40 metres in height.

They now possess the capability to produce wheels upto 100M in diameter, and pro actively seek out sites suitable for erecting wheels. Their engineering prowess make them the only European company to have installed a giant wheel on top of a large building.

The Fabbri Group have the design and production capabilities to undertake unique and one off commissions taking their funfair rides in a totally new direction. These include an aerial restaurant and a monorail system.

From the humble beginnings of the Fabbri Group with the Avio, the company now encompasses a complete range of attractions from Children’s rides through to the largest of travelling giant wheels. It sells its products throughout the globe and is definitely an Italian success story.

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