The historic Skyride at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds is ready for the first year of its seventh decade gliding 1/3 of a mile east to west and back, high above the middle of it all.
It may have been operating for a long time, but the Skyride’s technology is now brand-new.
This week, owner Don McClure and his crew installed the Skyride’s third update of the variable frequency drive.
In other words, the thing that makes it go.
“The previous one had gone into legacy status this year,” said McClure, meaning it’s out of date. “Like your PC, when it goes into legacy status, you change it out.”
This one is expected to last at least ten more years.
The tech work gave McClure an early opportunity for a dynamic load test, which is usually done every seven years.
“We load up to 110% capacity and run the machine through its paces to see how it reacts to the new drive,” said McClure.
They don’t ask for volunteers.
Instead, each of the 38 gondolas were weighted down with bags of sand, about 11 to each one.
That adds up to around 550 pounds safely inside those colorful capsules that include many originals, and several that have been dolled up to look like a cow’s flank and a police patrol car (complete with flashing lights).
The test took six hours, including the time crew members had to lift each gondola onto the cable, run the ride, then put the gondolas back in storage until near fairtime.
“Quite a workout,” said McClure.
The discarded sandbags are put to good use.
“We give them to the fair and they use them for things on the grounds,” McClure said. “They just came over with a forklift and picked up 550-600 bags.”
And the results of the upgrade and testing…
“It was pretty non-eventful, and that’s a good thing to have happen,” he said. “It’s in tip-top shape.”