Sky Whirl

Project Information

Sky Whirl is my very first project, it started it all! I knew I had the potential to create something grand, but I did not want to select a ride that was “easy to do”, referring to rotations across a single axis or motion along a straight path. Sky Whirl once operated at Six Flags Great America, I remember being in awe at its intricacies, then being nauseated from actually riding it. I missed the ride upon its removal, and I have always held it in a special place. This project had the most restarts as there was not a ton of media or information on it, size references being one of the most challenging aspects, fine-tuning it with each restart was a necessary process in for its final form.

Sky Whirl was also known as a Triple Wheel, the ride takes its riders to the sky giving a panoramic view during its operation. It consists of three arms, at the end of each arm is a wheel or “spider”, each wheel holding 12 gondolas. While the ride is running, two of its three wheels are lifted above the ground and rotate as the third wheel is lowered to the ground for loading and unloading.