Condor (ride)

The Condor is the trade name of an amusement ride sold by HUSS of Bremen, Germany. It was debuted at the 1984 New Orleans World's Fair, under the name "Cyclo Tower".

The Condor has 28 steel-framed gondolas, each with a fiberglass shell, frequently painted to resemble a bird. The seats hold one to two people, one sitting behind the other if they decide to ride double. It can accommodate approximately 1,700 riders per hour. The automatic doors on the ride are operated by pneumatic air pressure and are manually opened and closed. The ride uses a cable and counterweight system within the tower to assist with the raising and lowering of the rotating assembly.

An AC induction motor located at the end of each arm rotates the gondolas; three more on the middle lifting structure rotate the entire assembly and move the tower. To start the ride, most Condors require three buttons be hit at the same time to start the cycle. (The operator in the booth uses their thumbs on the two buttons located on the panel, while an attendant in a location around the perimeter must be holding that one as well.)

Operators of the ride have options to operate the ride at different speeds and rotation configurations (forward and reverse), with the potential for unique computerized programs on each ride. These unique motions can also be controlled manually. Most Condor installations are park models. An exception is one of the few traveling models left in the world, Blume & Wollenschlaeger's "Ikarus-Der-Mythos". Ikarus was one of the fastest Condors still in operation, and featured different and unique manually operated ride cycles, usually with reverse rotation. Ikarus was taken off the funfair circuit and put into storage in 2007.

In 2007, Huss discontinued manufacturing new installations of the ride. In 2013, Huss re-introduced the Condor as Condor 2-G (2nd Generation).

In 2016, the first Condor 2GH (second generation hybrid) opened in Tivoli Gardens, Denmark. Called "Fatamorgana", it features both standard Condor gondolas and a "thrill version." In this variation, riders are seated in a ring, facing away from the center, and are spun around at high speed.

Installations

There are several Huss Condor locations throughout the world, including

Name	Park	Location	Model	Opened	Status
Condor	Pleasure Island Family Theme Park	Template:Flagicon United Kingdom	Condor	Template:N/A	Removed
Hökfärden	Liseberg	Template:Flagicon Sweden	Condor	1985	Removed
Condor	Bobbejaanland	Template:Flagicon Belgium	Condor	1986	Removed
Condor	Phantasialand	Template:Flagicon Germany	Condor	1986	Removed
Taifun	Tykkimäki	Template:Flagicon Finland	Condor	1986	Removed
Condor	Morey's Piers	Template:Flagicon United States	Condor	1988	Removed
Condor	Six Flags Magic Mountain	Template:Flagicon United States	Condor	1988	Removed
Condor	Six Flags St. Louis	Template:Flagicon United States	Condor	1988	Removed
Ikarus	Gardaland	Template:Flagicon Italy	Condor	1989	Removed
Rotor	Parque de Atracciones de Madrid	Template:Flagicon Spain	Condor	1989	Operating
Sky Hawk	Marineland	Template:Flagicon Canada	Condor	1989	Operating
The Condor	Six Flags Great Escape and Hurricane Harbor	Template:Flagicon United States	Condor	1989	Operating
Condor	La Ronde	Template:Flagicon Canada	Condor	1990	Operating
Condor	Six Flags AstroWorld	Template:Flagicon United States	Condor	1991	Removed
Condor	Six Flags Great America Six Flags Great Adventure	Template:Flagicon United States	Condor	1991 1988 to 1990	Operating
Bounty Tower	Holiday Park	Template:Flagicon Germany	Condor	1994	Removed
Ikarus	Freizeit-Land Geiselwind	Template:Flagicon Germany	Condor	1994	Operating
Condor	Dream Park	Template:Flagicon Egypt	Condor	1995	Operating
Senga	Serengeti Park	Template:Flagicon Germany	Condor	1995	Removed
The Eagle	Attractiepark Slagharen	Template:Flagicon Netherlands	Condor	1998	Operating
Ikarus	Vidámpark	Template:Flagicon Hungary	Condor	1999	Removed
Drachenflug	Abenteuer Park Oberhausen	Template:Flagicon Germany	Condor	2000	Removed
Lossepladsen	BonBon-Land	Template:Flagicon Denmark	Condor	2000	Removed
Drachenflug	Belantis	Template:Flagicon Germany	Condor	2004	Operating
Le Condor	Luna Park Fréjus	Template:Flagicon France	Condor	2007	Removed
Condor	Europark Idroscola	Template:Flagicon Italy	Condor	2009	Operating
Sky Twister Formerly Condor	Skyline Park Heide Park	Template:Flagicon Germany	Condor	2009 1990-2008	Operating
Ikarus	Fantasilandia	Template:Flagicon Chile	Condor	2011	Removed
Condor	Miragica	Template:Flagicon Italy	Condor	2012	Operating
Condor	Happy Valley Beijing	Template:Flagicon China	Condor 2G	2014	Operating
Atlantis	Wunderland Kalkar	Template:Flagicon Germany	Condor	2015	Operating
Giant Condor	M&D's Scotland's Theme Park	Template:Flagicon United Kingdom	Condor	2015	Operating
Fatamorgana	Tivoli Gardens	Template:Flagicon Denmark	Condor 2GH	2016	Operating
Falcon's Flight Formerly Ikarus	Worlds of Fun Vidámpark	Template:Flagicon United States	Condor	2017 1999-2013	Removed
Condor	Sun Tzu Cultural Park	Template:Flagicon China	Condor 2G	2018	Operating
The Eagle	Ocean Park	Template:Flagicon Hong Kong	Condor	1994	Removed
Template:N/A Formerly Flying Falcon	Niagara Amusement Park and Splash World Hersheypark	Template:Flagicon United States	Condor	Template:N/A 1990-2016	In Storage
Template:N/A Formerly Cóndor	Indiana Beach La Feria de Chapultepec	Template:Flagicon United States	Condor	Template:N/A 2002-2019	In Storage

External video

• An on-ride video of Morey's Piers' Condor in Wildwood, New Jersey
• Blume & Wollenschlaeger's 'Ikarus-Der-Mythos' at a fair in Tilburg, Germany
• A combination of on-ride and external shots of Morey's Piers' Condor