The Top Spin is a really incredible ride made by Huss Rides of Germany. It’s very stylized with a great deal of lights, colors, and is normally equipped with a loud stereo system. For such a fantastic looking machine, the ride motion itself is pretty simple; the ride consists of two arms with a large 40 seat gondola hung between the two; the opposite ends of each arm have a counterweight. The arms are held up by two towers which attach to a hub at the center. The entire gondola itself is able to freely swing and even complete 360 degree flips.

The Ride

The riders choose one of the two rows, and move all the way to the end so others can get into the seats. The seat is very uncomfortable with a small hump in the middle of it to make it even more uncomfortable. Once everyone is in, the restraints come down…and do they EVER come down. First the harness lowers itself down mechanically, then this T-bar comes down over it and pushes down hard to pin you into the seat. At this point, some people wail in faux pain…it happens every time! However, I like the restraints tight on this ride because the Top Spin is the most hangtime filled ride ever.

Most normal Top Spins start by raising the gondola to the top, reversing, and then rotating the arms backwards to make it sort of a fast Ferris Wheel type ride. Now, since many Top Spins are manually controlled, it’s tough to determine what happens next, but there are always the following maneuvers that ride operators will definately exicute:

• Locking the gondola, racing the arms in one direction, and then releasing the gondola brake to make it flip. Every time the gondola goes upsidedown, the arms are moved down or up to keep it spinning. A good Top Spin operator can flip the gondola some 15 times in a row.
• Locking the gondola upsidedown at the top for about 5 seconds.
• Locking the gondola rightsideup at the top and then slowly lowering the arms downward. If the particular Top Spin has water jet sprayers in front of it, then the jets are usually turned on high leaving riders to edge closer and closer to them.

Other Info

First off, the Top Spin was my first upsidedown flatride…I think; it’s either the Enterprise or Top Spin and I forget which one was first. In any event the exact Top Spin would be “Twister” at Six Flags Great Adventure. At the time I loved it, but Twister has a terrible ride cycle program that bairly flips the gondola even once. Twister also has the ugliest color scheme ever; it’s painted to look like wood….WOOD!

A well run Top Spin can guarantee at least 6 or so upsidedown moments; Hang Time at Dorney Park was a good example but has effectively been ‘nerfed’ as well. The best Top Spin I’ve been on was Astroland’s Top Spin 2 (video above.) It’s run manually, has lots of flips and swings, and runs for like 4 minutes. However, Top Spin rides travelling in the European funfair circuit are probably the most intense you’ll find. There’s a video somewhere of a Top Spin doing 100+ flips in a row at a Euro funfair. I think I’d pass on that experience though…

If you’re looking for the Top Spin to stop by at your local fair or state fair for that matter, you are going to be very dissipointed. Strates Shows is the only carnival company in the US that has a genuine Huss ‘Top Spin 1′ (not the knock off versions by Vekoma and others.) A real Top Spin takes up 3 trailors, and is not road legal in the US because of weight restrictions, I beleive; it only travels by rail which limits it’s stops. The Meadowlands Fair in East Rutherford, NJ had The Top Spin present in around 1998. It was a really nice looking one with a white and tie-dye color scheme, thousands of lights, loud music, and of course a wild ride cycle. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to ride it as I was too scared of upsidedown rides at the time. It totally reeked German fair, with it’s imposing presence and high decibel music volume.

But, in 2007 I did get to ride that same Top Spin when it was at the Orange County Fair in Middletown, NY. Check out the video below; it’s a pretty sweet ride.

Videos

Top Spin at the Orange County Fair in 2007. Piece owned by Strates Shows.

Top Spin 2 at Astroland

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