Australian Amusement Fanatics

Rides:

Hurricane (Alaskan USA import)
ChaCha
Bungee Trampolines
Kiddy Rides

Photos: (Hurricane only)

Nice pics, for being a "Lego Hurricane" It's in very good condition. The lights look bright (the covers anyway) and the paint looks good. I also like the fact the car's have lights, a feature I wish the Lenmax / Ferarri Hurricane's had.

Geez, it looks like the one that's owned by Bills' Amusements just out of Rocky in Central Queensland except I thought it had a different paint job. More purple and green? Is this the same one I saw a couple of months ago up here or is there another lego style hurricane in Australia??
Deefa.

I thought it was the same one. I know it came from Alaska. Do we have a second one?

I had heard someone on the other side of Aussie was going to the States looking for Hurricane, I believe they did end up buying one.

Kiwi

Confirmed. this is now the second US-built Hurri we have in Australia.

This one belongs to Matt Hamilton. It's good to see the ride making a resurgence of sorts.

I'm not a fan of the newer style cars, but I can see they would be much easier to assemble, and the lapbars are also safer compared to the older style which have a habit of falling on people if others pull them down too early.

Thank god for that! I didn't think I killed off that many brain cells in that short amount of time, I thought it was more purple and green, then again, it could have had a paint job in the meantime. Good to see more rides coming over from the states while the dollar is up. Now if some one could just bring over a Ring of Fire (super loops) or something spectacular that would really put the icing on the cake.

there is 3 usa built hurricanes in austraila now, pinks old one is from the states which browns own hamiltons and bills and will be 4 soon

Zamperla wrote:I thought it was the same one. I know it came from Alaska. Do we have a second one?

Pinks Hurricane was a Australian Built LENMAX model if I am correct.

pinks brought there hurricane from tony smans of mobile amusements which he imported from usa

Hurricane wrote:Pinks Hurricane was a Australian Built LENMAX model if I am correct.

I never knew Pinks (now Browns) was an import.

Hurricane you may be thinking of Youngs.

no its pinks that was imported
youngs was built in austraila, was in luna park melbourne then brought buy terry brooks and then sold to youngs

Zamperla wrote:I never knew Pinks (now Browns) was an import.

Hurricane you may be thinking of Youngs.

I could have sworn you said that Pinks Hurricane was the one at Luna Park Sydney. Complete with Lenmax written on the control panel Zamp.

Nah mate that was Youngs. But I did presume Pinks/Browns was Aus-made too till now.

Ah, I could have sworn it was Pinks. Oh well. It's odd because it looks the exact same as the Aussie built models.

Hurricane wrote:Ah, I could have sworn it was Pinks. Oh well. It's odd because it looks the exact same as the Aussie built models.

when the austrailan ones were built they were built of the american plans, all the early model american hurricane came out with the big tub cars (same as aussie ones)the lego cars were an update later if you wanted them

After working on Mahons American built Hurricane's and then watching and studying the Ex Rex Newton Australian built model. While they are the same a few things rack differently, and how it was built is slightly different. They appeared to be very suttle differences you would have to be looking for.

I'm surprised no one has modified their units to Downdraft cars yet, then again I don't know how successful the Downdraft design has been in USA compared to a standard Hurri.

Also, unlike say, Hangover or other inverted rides, the platform doesn't move out of the way, and there is no footrests, so what stops feet from hitting the deck?

Ah okay, thanks for clearing all that up for me. Also Dave, as far as I know there has only been one Down-draft sold and thats the one at Knoebels (pictured)

i have seen both of mahons hurricanes when i was over a few years ago and i think one of them is aussie built they were rebuilding one in the yard at that time very smart operaters.

kiwi wrote:After working on Mahons American built Hurricane's and then watching and studying the Ex Rex Newton Australian built model. While they are the same a few things rack differently, and how it was built is slightly different. They appeared to be very suttle differences you would have to be looking for.

Both of Mahons are original Hrubetz rides, imported many years ago now.

I was led to believe the Downdraft ride has a larger deck, with a folding section for travel. I think the tower is still the same height through. From what I was told it was not therefore possible to convert, in my opinion dosn't look like a very good idea anyway.

Kiwi

Interesting Kiwi re: Downdraft. Now you mention it, the deck is clearly wider. The restraints look a little primitive compared to European designs and for a ride with such forces. Downdraft may have been more successful if it was done in collaboration with an experienced European manufacturer. e.g. harness design by KMG or Fabbri.

the downdraft tower is 18 inches higher as we inquired about the covertion a few years back

Zamperla wrote:Interesting Kiwi re: Downdraft. Now you mention it, the deck is clearly wider. The restraints look a little primitive compared to European designs and for a ride with such forces. Downdraft may have been more successful if it was done in collaboration with an experienced European manufacturer. e.g. harness design by KMG or Fabbri.

Zamperla wrote:Rides:

Hurricane (Alaskan USA import)
ChaCha
Bungee Trampolines
Kiddy Rides

Photos: (Hurricane only)

I wouldn't mind trying a Downdraft as it seems to me having suspended seating would add some more thrill to what is already a fantastic ride in my oppinion. I wonder whether the Downdraft makes the same distinctive noise as the traditional Hurricanes? I remember when the Super Loop/Ring of Fire was updated to Fireball, they made it a lot quieter and more plastic sounding if you know what I mean...

Here's a good overhead view, taken by NearMap!