Tall, loaded swing now homeless
The world’s tallest ground loaded swing is looking for a new home.
For the past five years Lance Giltrap has set about building the tallest ground-winched swing ride in the world, unfortunately his plan has hit a snag.
‘‘The property we were looking at is no longer available,’’ said Giltrap.
Giltrap had pinned his hope on setting up at Karioitahi Beach, but due to changes in the Auckland Unitary Plan, his final consent for construction didn’t go through.
‘‘[The Auckland Council] have drawn a line straight down the coast line at Awhitu, so now its a heritage park,’’ he said.
So now the entrepeneur is looking for a new piece of land to park his hair raising device which will stand at almost 100 metres tall.
‘‘It might interest a farmer. These guys understand there’s ebbs and flows in farming and it might be nice to have a constant income.’’
The loaded swing-system will consist of three towers with steel wires branching off towards the ground.
The components for the swing are all ready to go and the majority of the engineering consents have been approved.
‘‘Once a piece of land is sorted it should only take a year or two to build,’’ he said.
The swing is designed to lift passengers 94 metres off the ground, a process which takes more than a minute.
They’re then released and propelled through the air at 156kmh.
When completed, the swing will stand so tall it requires special permission from civil aviation experts to be built.
‘‘[Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand] deem it hazardous airspace, how cool it that?’’
But the swing is completely safe said Giltrap.
Unlike bungy jumping which he compares to a ‘‘over-rated anxiety attack’’ the swing is a true simulation of flying.