From Chris Goddard
The efforts of the X-ride designers to create an unpredictable “head over
heels” effect in a revolutionary prototype fairground ride
(28 April, p 32)
have long been pre-empted by the Rocker Planes, which for many years formed part of
the annual fair that visited my town.
This ride consisted of a rotating ferris-wheel frame supporting independently
spinning cars for two people, each weighted at the bottom for self-levelling and
fitted with a dual foot-operated device which locked the car to its axle. Those
brave or foolhardy enough to entrust themselves to an expert rider could expect
not only unpredictable head first plummets and stomach churning jolts, but also
rapid and prolonged spinning, in either direction, as energy stored by keeping
the car upside down was judiciously released. However, the real rush was the
danger. Fear induced by the creaks and the rust lent an edge that a modern ride
could never have.
Witney, Oxfordshire
