BBC Dragon's Den: Prototype theme park ride

[MG]

Hey everyone,

Don't know if anyone caught Dragon's Den this evening (2100 BST). In one of the short clips of the programme they talked to a German born engineer who wanted investment to build a prototype amusement ride called "The Aeronaut Project". The ride looked really bizarre; it looked like the result of mating a skycoaster with a Zamperla flyer. The ride itself was slightly reminiscent of the Gerstlauer Sky Roller. It was a really weird ride. The investment was rejected by the Dragons with Deborah Meaden noting that she has seen many ride projects over the years which have been abandoned.

Just wondering if anybody knows anything else about this ride, or its engineer.

To watch this episode of Dragon's Den on the BBC iPlayer simply click here (UK only), for those outside the UK I am sure that this episode will soon be available on YouTube or less legal sites. This is Dragon's Den Series 8 Episode 9 at around 40:15.

[Mike Austin]

I think Deborah Meaden has got it spot on...

"I have seen a lot of prototypes that actually never end up as rides; because whilst the theory looks great, there is a problem in the actual application of them"

 

This ride just looks far too big and expensive for it to be anywhere near feasible, and it doesn't look that great anyway!

[deathbydinn]

Could someone post a screen cap of it?

[MG]

Hey, here are some screenshots. Mike, you are completely right about what Deborah Meaden said. I don't know though whether she has ever been involved in anything of amusement park scale. I assume the most she gets involved in the amusement industry is with kiddie rides at holiday parks.

[let1gre]

So... it's a glorified zip line?

[MayTheGForceBeWithYou]

^Agreed. It also looks like the zip-line thingy from Fort Fun in Germany.

[Jeroen_twee]

Looks like Walibi Belgium's Vertigo.