Swing ride


The swing ride or chair swing ride is an amusement ride that is a variation on the carousel in which the seats are suspended from the rotating top of the carousel as it spins around. On some versions, particularly on the Wave Swingers, the rotating top of the carousel also tilts for additional variations of motion.

History

has a chair-o-planes adapted from a bomb damaged roundabout in 1944.
A Chair-O-Planes premiered in Germany in 1972, designed by Zierer and built by Franz Schwarzkopf, brother of Anton Schwarzkopf. In 1974 the first portable unit debuted under the same partnership. Since then Zierer has built about 200 units. Other manufacturers have followed creating their own versions of the Chair-O-Planes, including Zamperla, Chance Rides, Grover Watkins, Bertazzon, Preston & Barbieri, Vekoma, and Sanoyas Hishino Meisho.
In the late 2000s, Austrian manufacturer Funtime developed the world's first tower swinger, known as the Star Flyer. Mondial followed with their WindSeeker, leading to a lawsuit between the two companies. Zamperla also sells a Vertical Swing.

Locations

Europe

[Austria]

The Prater Turm located in the Wurstelprater in Vienna opened in 2010 at a height of.

[Denmark]

The Star Flyer, located in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, affords sweeping views of the city's historical centre.
The Swing Carousel also located in Tivoli Gardens Copenhagen.

[France]

Les Chaises Volantes in Walibi Sud-Ouest is a Zierer model from 1987 which was relocated to the park in 1992.

[Germany]

In Germany, swing rides are often found on fairs, Volksfests like the Oktoberfest and traveling funfairs. But swing rides are also common in amusement parks. Most of the German swing rides are from Zierer.
Some of these include:
In Italy, most swing rides travel with fairs. The ride is called "Seggiolini volanti" or "calcinculo", which literally means "kick in the bottom". Two people sit in contiguous seats, and the one sitting behind kicks or pushes their partner higher in the air, in order to reach a "tail" suspended beyond normal reach at a point in the ride's rotation. Any individual who manages to grab the tail wins a free ride.

[Netherlands]

located the same Chair-O-Plane as Loundoun Castle.
Some Swing rides in the Netherlands:
The second-largest amusement park within the Nordic countries is Tusenfryd, located outside the capital city Oslo, Norway. Tusenfryd features a Wellenflieger called Sverrehusken that has been in-operation since 1988. Sverrehusken was the first ride of its kind in the Nordic countries.
At Kongeparken, located 10 km outside the third-largest city in Norway, Stavanger, is a Wellenflieger named Spinnvidle that has been in-operation since 2012. Spinnvidle is the first of its kind in Norway with double seats.

[Sweden]

The Swedish name for Swing ride is Slänggunga or Kättingflygare. At Gröna Lund, Stockholm, a swing ride with the name "Eclipse" can be found. With its, it shares the "world's second tallest" title with SkyScreamer in Texas, North America.
The biggest amusement park in the Nordic countries is Liseberg, in Sweden's second largest city Gothenburg. Liseberg is the home of a Swing ride named "Slänggungan".

[Spain]

Theme Park in Scotland claimed that its moon-shaped ride, "The Plough", was the largest Chair-O-Plane in the world. The Plough was originally called Apollo 14 and was owned by the Bembom family, operating in their Ponypark Slagharen in the Netherlands during the late seventies. It had gondolas travelling around the outside of the ride. When moved to Dreamland in England, it was reconstructed into a Chair-O-Plane and named Heatwave. Leaving Dreamland, it opened in Lightwater Valley in 1998 where it operated until 2003 when Henk Bembom moved Heatwave to his new park, Loudoun Castle, where it was renamed "The Plough" and painted green. The park has been closed since 2010.
Until 2016, there was a Chair-O-Plane ride at Alton Towers in Staffordshire. Called Twirling Toadstool it was set in a fantasy themed area of the park called Cloud Cukoo Land, it was themed as a giant mushroom. This was formerly themed as a prehistoric dinosaur-type ride and located in an area called Ug Land.
You can also find a Chair-O-Plane at Carters Steam Fair which is one of the largest vintage travelling funfairs including some steam driven rides. Their ride's past is a little patchy but is thought to have been built in Germany in the 1920s and imported to Britain with a blank canvas. It's generally the case that British roundabouts run clockwise, whereas their Continental and American counterparts run anti-clockwise. The Chair-o-Plane certainly runs the right direction to be a British-built ride, but it may have been adapted by an early owner.
Adventure Island has a Chair-O-Plane called Archelon, which was themed to the extinct species of turtle of the same name.
Chessington World of Adventures is home to a monkey-themed Chair-O-Planes, named the "Monkey Swinger", that squirts water at riders. This formerly had a theme based on Billy Whizz of The Beano.
Paultons Park is also home to a Chair-O-Planes called "The Sky Swinger". This ride opened in 2008 and is a Zierer model.
Butlins is home to three Chair-O-Planes, one at each site, located at Butlins Minehead, Butlins Bognor Regis, and Butlins Skegness. Butlins Minehead is home to a Zierer Wave Swinger, and the other two resorts manufacturers are unknown.

North America

Most of the traditional-style swing carousel rides in North America are found in amusement parks, as well as at many seasonal fairs and carnivals. They are usually made by Zierer, although some are made by Bertazzon or Zamperla.
In recent years, many American amusement parks have opened towering models, such as the WindSeeker or the Sky Screamer. These high-thrill swing rides are normally a minimum of 100 feet tall, with several even surpassing 200’. The Texas and New England Six Flags parks have Sky Screamers measuring 400’.
North American swing rides include: