Lost Legends: Alpenflug |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Late one evening at Oktoberfest in 1973, Max Zierer was sitting in the operating room of his bumper cars ride when he was approached by several engineers from the German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmidt Bölkow Blohm. The engineers informed Mr. Zierer that the company was in the process of developing a new type of roller coaster. The ride was scheduled to be finished by the following year, and they wanted their ride to appear at the next Oktoberfest; however, only well known showmen were allowed to exhibit their rides at the fair. After discussions with project managers, Zierer agreed to represent the ride at the next Oktoberfest, and Messerschmidt had their showman. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Work on the ride progressed quickly; teams of engineers worked around the clock to get the job finished. Two hundred and fourteen engineers were available on short notice to solve any problem that may come up. Construction work began at a fabrication plant in Donauwörth. Shortly after construction began, the whole project was jeopardized when four managers quit the project. Luckily, Baron von Stelzer took over, and was able to complete the ride on deadline. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Alpenflug was assembled completely for the first time on the grounds of the Büttner company, in preparation for the ride's scheduled debut on September 21, 1974. During test runs of the ride on this site, one of the trains slipped thorugh a station brake. The problem was inspected and solved, but it delayed the approval process just long enough for the ride to miss the 1974 fair. Max Zierer exhibited his other rides at the fair, and Messerschmidt went back to work on the Alpenflug. They now had a whole year at improve and perfect the design. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The next year, special permission was obtained by the end of july to assemble the ride, although more improvements were going to be necessary to ensure the uninterupted operation of the ride. One inspector predicted the Alpenflug would experience 40% downtime. To make sure everything went smoothly, Messerschmidt had 16 employees staying in the nearby Kronen Hotel, for the duration of the fair. These employees supervised the ride's operation from 5:00 AM until midnight each day. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Alpenflug was so popular, that security struggled to control the crowds, and the walls of nearby buildings - including the Alpenflug cashier's building - were pushed in. Luckily, the saftey inspector's prediction was way off - during the 16 day fair, the coaster experienced only 26 minutes of downtime. Messerschmidt began work on a duplicate ride. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
After the
fair, the ride was examined again, and an operating permit was denied. The
Alpenflug suffered from exactly the same flaws that would cause The Bat - another
early suspended coaster - to be dismantled. The main problems were that the track was that
the track was not banked, and that the brake fins were on the bottom of the cars. This
caused heavy stress and wear on the supports and wheel assemblies of the coaster. In the
end, Messerschmidt had to scrap the coaster, and the duplicate ride they had built, which
was undergoing testing. The company decided not to attempt roller coasters again.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Written by James Kay
All pages © Coasterglobe.com
Layout diagram © Coasterglobe.com
Photos: Von Michael Jantowski, Archiv Zierer
