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Manchester to get white knuckle ride

A

Aspyrational

TS Member
Thrill-seekers are to get a special treat – with the arrival of a 230ft white-knuckle ride in Manchester city centre.
The so-called Starflyer will hoist riders almost as high as the town hall clock tower before spinning them round at speed.
Council chiefs believe it could attract up to 10,000 people a week when it arrives in Piccadilly Gardens on March 29.
And some of the cash generated by tickets – which will cost £6 for adults and £20 for two adults and two children – will go into a pot to support future events in the city.
The ride will be open from 10am-10pm during its three-month stint in the city.
It is being billed as the first step in making Piccadilly Gardens a ‘family-friendly’ destination – with a children’s play area set to follow in the summer.
Pat Karney, the town hall’s city-centre spokesman, said: “In the Manchester Starflyer, we have a ride that offers not only white-knuckle excitement, but is also a real statement – a brand new icon of the Manchester skyline – which will attract thousands of people to the city centre.”
The Starflyer, owned by the Mellors Group, can carry up to 24 people at a time.
It has already been used on London’s South Bank during last year’s Olympics.
Richard Spurr, of the Mellors Group, said: “We are hugely excited to be bringing such a spectacular attraction to the heart of Manchester for the very first time.”
Passengers must be at least six-years-old.


http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/230ft-high-starflyer-coming-piccadilly-1764249
 
Aspyrational said:
It has already been used on London’s South Bank during last year’s Olympics.
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I saw this news earlier and thought it looked like one that had done the rounds somewhere else fairly recently, couldn't remember where i had seen it though.

Decent for Manc, wouldn't get me on one in a million years though :p
 
I found Starflyers terrifying. Then I went on Mission Space. Suddenly they are no bother. :p
 
Ooh, I might be able to see this from the hills near my house then. Will certainly keep an eye on this :)
 
If it's the one that was on the South Bank, I did it several times (for half the price it was at Winter Wonderland). It's quite a good one. Unlike some of them, it Actually feels safe! :p

It's worth watching the cycle before hand though. Sometimes it gives a nice long ride with a good couple of minutes at the top, other times it starts to lower as soon as it kisses the top :/
 
I'll head down there tomorrow to see whether anything's been constructed of it yet. I'd hardly call it a "white knuckle ride" though!
 
Alastair said:
I'll head down there tomorrow to see whether anything's been constructed of it yet. I'd hardly call it a "white knuckle ride" though!
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Mine would be, from gripping the nearest hand rail to prevent anyone dragging me on the darn thing!

Point taken though, I hope I am not the only one whom, for a fleeting moment thought - WOW, they are building a coaster in Manchester ;D

Er, no.

:twirly:
 
It's one of those rides that is only thrilling because of it's height. Were it at ground level, it would be duller than a Wave Swinger.
Like I said, having been on Mission Space (which was real brown trousers time, and I'm usually fine with heights), this thing feels tiny! :p

I still think the best place to stick a Star Flyer would be on top of The Shard :D
 
Didn't really expect there to be anything visible as of yet, but since this morning, vertical construction has begun ;)

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And to follow on from Alastair this morning, here is progress from this afternoon:

Photobombed by a pigeon:

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The guy on the left in this following photo is an elderly enthusiast :p He started talking to me about how high it was, laughing it off saying how many times he'd been on PMBO when it opened at Blackpool. Such a nice chap :) :

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There appeared to be a lot of people photographing/filming/pointing at it in interest. You can find the rest of the photos I took of the Star Flyer here.
 
Are they building this the same way they build tower cranes? From the bottom up?

Also Danny, you should've told me you were there! Was still around at about 3pm. :p
 
Alastair said:
Are they building this the same way they build tower cranes? From the bottom up?

Also Danny, you should've told me you were there! Was still around at about 3pm. :p
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No, the top section hovers in mid air using anti-gravity jets, then they float all the tower sections up to it with Maglev.
(sorry, couldn't resist ;) )

It's not quite the same as tower cranes are self building, and have a top section that jacks the jib and cab up to insert a new tower section. This is just stacked one bit on top of the other by a mobile crane.
 
DiogoJ42 said:
Alastair said:
Are they building this the same way they build tower cranes? From the bottom up?

Also Danny, you should've told me you were there! Was still around at about 3pm. :p
Click to expand...
No, the top section hovers in mid air using anti-gravity jets, then they float all the tower sections up to it with Maglev.
(sorry, couldn't resist ;) )

It's not quite the same as tower cranes are self building, and have a top section that jacks the jib and cab up to insert a new tower section. This is just stacked one bit on top of the other by a mobile crane.
Click to expand...

I've just realised that "from the bottom up" wasn't the best way to describe what I meant. I did mean the way you just described, however I think they'll probably need to draft in a larger crane at some point to get up to the 230ft point!
 
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