Beware of falling rockets.
We took the kids to the 4H fair. There, my daughter and her friends boarded this rocket ride. It was this double rocket thing with two compartments at the top connected by a long axis to two compartments at the bottom. It rotated in a circle. When one double rocket was at the top, one was at the bottom. So the girls get into this rocket thing, the carnie man shuts the little cage door and latches it. Off they go. I'm watching my daughter and her friends for about two minutes, when out of the blue, the opposing rocket sheds two big pieces of its fuselage as it descends. These big steel pieces fell...off... twenty...five...feet...in...front...of...me. Boom.
I hold my breath. No one is hurt.
The carnie man stops the ride with my daughter's car at the top of the circle. An official looking carnie guy with a clipboard comes over. This is the part the gets me. The carnie guy gives the clipboard guy a look that clearly says, "Damn! It happened again." I saw that look. I know that's what it said.
So my baby and her buddies are stuck at the top while the clipboard guy inspects the rocket. It's obvious that the fuselage was decorative; the damage was not to the workings of ride. The real danger would have been to anyone in the wrong place on the ground. The passengers are let off, and then they bring my daughter and her friends down and return them to me in one piece. The ride is closed. We move on.
Later, they decide they want one more ride. I approach the guy at this really mild-looking ride who is inspecting it between passengers. I say, "Is this ride safe? That rocket over there lost it's fuselage." He looks at me and says, "Yeah, that happens when he (the rocket operator) doesn't tighten this big lug nut in the middle."
Yeow.
We're off to Yellowstone today. We'll see Sarah Masen play this evening (I am soooooo excited!), stay in Indy tonight, and off to the great wild west. Peace to ya'll.
.
We took the kids to the 4H fair. There, my daughter and her friends boarded this rocket ride. It was this double rocket thing with two compartments at the top connected by a long axis to two compartments at the bottom. It rotated in a circle. When one double rocket was at the top, one was at the bottom. So the girls get into this rocket thing, the carnie man shuts the little cage door and latches it. Off they go. I'm watching my daughter and her friends for about two minutes, when out of the blue, the opposing rocket sheds two big pieces of its fuselage as it descends. These big steel pieces fell...off... twenty...five...feet...in...front...of...me. Boom.
I hold my breath. No one is hurt.
The carnie man stops the ride with my daughter's car at the top of the circle. An official looking carnie guy with a clipboard comes over. This is the part the gets me. The carnie guy gives the clipboard guy a look that clearly says, "Damn! It happened again." I saw that look. I know that's what it said.
So my baby and her buddies are stuck at the top while the clipboard guy inspects the rocket. It's obvious that the fuselage was decorative; the damage was not to the workings of ride. The real danger would have been to anyone in the wrong place on the ground. The passengers are let off, and then they bring my daughter and her friends down and return them to me in one piece. The ride is closed. We move on.
Later, they decide they want one more ride. I approach the guy at this really mild-looking ride who is inspecting it between passengers. I say, "Is this ride safe? That rocket over there lost it's fuselage." He looks at me and says, "Yeah, that happens when he (the rocket operator) doesn't tighten this big lug nut in the middle."
Yeow.
We're off to Yellowstone today. We'll see Sarah Masen play this evening (I am soooooo excited!), stay in Indy tonight, and off to the great wild west. Peace to ya'll.
.
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