I took the skydiver over to the Drymen Show on Tuesday afternoon. The sun was splitting the sky and the field was hard as a rock. The ground was not set as "d" was in Middlesbrough and would not be up until the next morning. I knew this and planned to bring the DZ in the next morning and then build up.So we just parked off the roadway through the field.
Wednesday and the rain was pouring down, all through the night and all afternoon. We arrived back at the showground and I could see "d" in the distance marking out the plots. The rain was falling heavily. I jumped in the skydiver and drove it onto its plot. Then we uncoupled and set the unit behind the ride. So far so good. Next the DZ was swung around onto its plot. The unit uncoupled and parked next to the other. Set with no skidding great!! We erected the DZ as it was in the middle and would not hold anyone up standing next to it. We were soaked through to the skin and decided to leave the Skydiver until the next day. Off we set for home, the traffic was heavy and we were over an hour extra on the journey. The wet clothes were drying on us and it was very uncomfortable to say the least.
Thursday and back out to the showground. This time the weather was scorching again and we built up the skydiver. The "jw"s miami came in-got stuck and needed a chug from the tractor, then "pp"s arcade went down and needed a tow too. "two brains" came in with the dodgem artic and in an impressive bit of driving, rallied across the field and jack knifed right onto the plot perfectly. Then slammed the anchors on and nearly tipped the whole lot up, for a split second I thought the trailer was going to clout the back of the cab. It didn't though and he was set without any problems. It was mid afternoon by now. "r" and I headed out to the miami to set up for the music event. We set up in only an hour, then changed the set filter,greased the machine and put some new brushes in for the boat lights. So a full days work.
The picture is someone else getting towed-for a change!
Bellshill went off without a hitch. Business was well down on Saturday, however Sunday was slightly better than last year and Monday was not far away. The weather was sunny for the three days (as it has been for the last 2 weeks now). We closed at 8pm on Sunday. I returned home but forgot an item in the paybox of the miami so I returned to the street for 8:30pm. The local kids were making full use of the bumpy slide and funhouse at this time as both were full !!! They all fled when they seen the car pull up, but rest assured they would have returned until the early hours. Monday and we closed at 7pm prompt. "r" tackled the DZ while I did the miami. We only had to wait for a few minutes until the juveniles were clear of the tower and we could get it lowered. Just after 8:30 pm Blakey arrived and took the DZ back to the yard for me (thanks to him again-this is getting to be a habit ) while I took the miami out to the venue for a music event next week.
The picture shows the high street at 6:40pm on Saturday-look how dead it is!!
What a difference!It was easy, relaxed and safe. I could not believe what I was hearing but when it sank in- Yippee! They would close the road at 6pm and we could get access from 7pm. Where? Oh sorry in my elation I forgot to tell you- Bellshill street fair, the fair were we usually build the rides up after waiting until 10pm at night and while dodging the traffic. Finally they closed the road at a sensible time, I moaned about it in my blog last year and this year common sense prevails- There for the only conclusion is that God read my blog and sorted it- right?
So I took the DZ and left it in a nearby industrial estate. Then I returned for the miami and timed it so that I arrived on the street just after 7pm. We set this ride and then went back for the DZ. We had to erect the DZ first as swinging the tower into position take up a bit of room and I was holding up the chap next to me. So "r" and I had the DZ up for 9pm. Wasting no time we moved right onto the miami. It was erected for 10pm but then it would not go. The brake would not release. Suspecting the brush connections, I cleaned them-Nope. Then we started by- passing limit switches on the safety system under the boat-nope. We put all them back together and then started on the rear door switches- finally, one of these switches had moved slightly (probably from a kick) and was not fully switching. So job done for half ten, when in previous years we would only be starting.
Well Coatbridge finished off on Sunday afternoon at 5:20pm. "r" and I pulled the skydiver down first and then onto the DZ. Just after 9pm Blakey came over and shifted the DZ away for me (thanks Blakey!) and I followed with the Skydiver. The yard is quite full at the moment but we managed to squeeze everything in. We are waiting on Bellshill Street fair this Bank Holiday weekend. So the last two days have been spent doing the weld repairs from Alloa, putting some trailer bulbs in and any other small, easy job, so as not to feel guilty about doing nothing. As for Coatbridge-The fair enjoyed nearly two weeks solid sunshine and this did mean better business than last year. It was very pleasant this year with no trouble from any youths and to think last year I really thought that would be the end. Just goes to show you should never write anywhere off. Winch is still not repaired as the engineer has been busy keeping other showmen on the road.
Over the last week we have been open at Coatbridge, nothing unusual to talk about there. I removed the blown end cap on the winch. It turned out that the end cap (made of cast steel) had split under the pressure. This was given to "jm" the Ayrshire engineer, I asked him to make another from steel. I was lucky as he happened to be in Glasgow at the time so I didn't need to run out to Ayrshire. Hopefully when it returns all will be well. This does raise the question, what about the pressure relief valve though?
Last week I get a call about the Miami for a small music event in S'clyde park. The ride is free that Saturday so I agree to attend.
On Friday "r" and I take the ride over for 5pm. We had hoped to get in earlier as we were also open at Coatbridge that night, but not to be. To minimise risking damage we reverse the ride onto its plot. For 5:50pm the ride was set and level but not fully erected. There was no security fence around the event, but we were told someone would be on. I imagine this park turns into a "zoo" after dark. We have to leave and go and open at Coatbridge. 10 pm and we return to the Miami, this time the security fence is erected, on closer inspection I notice its a joke, the fencing only surrounds about 50% of the site and the remainder is waist high! We climb over and start to erect the ride again. Not wanting to attract any "nightlife" we do it almost completely in the dark.
Saturday morning my wife and I leave to go to the Park. Its 9:15 am. She suggests we stop at Tesco for some juice etc for the day. 9:30 am I'm in the back of a police car being booked!!! Why?, simple when you get behind the wheel of a vehicle you are a soft target, an easy victim for a cash injection into the "system". At the front of Tesco there is a short (20 m) taxi/bus lane that misses out a set of traffic lights. I took this short cut to enter the store, just as the Police car was coming the other way. They do a U turn and follow me in to the car park. That was that-fixed penalty £30. I tried to blag it, saying I was not from the area and thought it was the main entrance-no go, I also mentioned it was early Saturday morning and there was no busses or taxis about-nope, fixed penalty my son. Am I annoyed because the Police are doing their job? No, but ask yourself this- If I were a drunk NED staggering down the street with my Pit-bull lead in one hand and a bottle of Buckie in the other, would the Police have made that U turn or would I have been too much trouble? Unfortunately the law only works against people with something to lose. License holding driver-easy soft target and cash rich.You cant eat,drink or phone while driving, how long before the radio's and cd players are taken out too?
So we were off to a bad start, would things improve? We got onsite for just after 10am. Expecting to start at 11 we got ready. The sun was burning through and I knew it was going to be a scorcher. 11am-no people,12pm no people,1pm no people, 1:30 and we finally get a couple of punters. The first run and the set stops!! I restart it and away it goes again- this is what it did at Ingliston, remember? It must be something to do with running 3 rides then giong back to only running 1.There was another ride present, a twist. They had problems too and they ended up changing the ride oil and bypassing the hydraulic filter to get the ride going (at my suggestion). For 3pm the event was quite full but they were all laying on the grass drinking heavily.Not by the bottle full ,but cases at a time. I knew by 5pm they would be pissed as newts. Fortunately a thunder storm erupted and the rain got them up and moving, it also slowed down the alcohol consumption. The lightning arced across the sky and just as I was about to call "r" he phoned to say he had close the DZ at Coatbridge and removed the wire from the generator. Just after 6pm and the rain stopped, the people came out of the tents and slowly we did get something, they were all still well oiled, but they seemed a better class of people, no football tops or shell suits to be seen. There were a couple that started to slide up and down in the mud at the front of the stage and at one point I though one of the bands lead singers was going to start a riot when he sang/shouted at the crowd-Dont F*** with the Casuals and you's lot shut up shut up shut up, get a job etc. One guy jumped on to the stage and just as I though he was going to punch him-he grabbed the mike and shouted insults back! At that a brief scuffle broke out as the spectator was dragged off. I though how can they get licenses for this and we struggle to get licenses for funfairs? and we don't sell alcohol! Any way it was hard work knocking out a couple of quid and dealing with the alcohol handicap. 9:30 pm and we close. I wait a further 30 mins for the event to clear then I pull down the ride. By 11:30pm I'm back at the yard, but can't get in because "fast jack" has his car and bogey trailer abandoned in the middle of the yard-nice one. So I have to leave the ride outside until Sunday morning. Oh!, I also noticed a leaking air valve on the Foden. Things can only get better.
I couple big Kip's Kiosk up to the jeep and take it out. The jeep just managed it in 4WD. This cleared the front off the skydiver. I want to get the ride out before 10:30 am as "r" will be leaving to go and watch the DZ at the other fair. I go to start the unit. Funny, the isolator switch is ON! Right enough I go to start the lorry and its dead. It turned out T-Tango had moved the unit while I was away last week. He forgot to isolate the batteries again! We put the charger on, but a bigger charger and 50 mins later still no go. That's when we decided to remove the new batteries from the show and used them to jump the unit, then put them back onto the show lorry again. We moved the show (6 wheel DD) behind the unit and towed it back onto the narrow path. Next I shunted the unit until I lined it up with the skydiver about 30m away. I took a charge across the sea of mud, expecting to get stuck within 5m. It kept going all the way until I had to stop before running into the skydiver! If only I had lifted the ride for coupling up before hand. I would probably have made it. Any how I had stopped, lifted the ride for coupling but the unit would not pick away again-stuck! Plan B- we attach a snatch block to the skydiver, run the wire rope out from the show winch in a V formation. Right enough the winch pulls the unit nearly under but the unit slides and we loose the line. So we have to reposition the show to correct it. Nothing for it, we have to take it right into the muddy park. It does manage to get into position. We begin to pull the unit under again, suddenly the attaching point on the skydiver chassis bends. We stop and change to another anchor point. This time success and the unit is coupled up. Before we finish with the winch we attach it to the first attaching point and use the winch to bend it back straight again. Minor welding required next week. 11:45 am "r" leaves to mind the DZ. With the unit coupled I leave it running for a while to charge the batteries, that's when I notice that the suspension is not lifting. Crawling under the ride I hear a hiss, one of the airbag pipes had bust. On closer inspection I find heat damage from when we inserted the new chassis plates. Luckily I still had spare pipe from being in the shed so it only took 10 mins to change the damaged piece.
With 80% of the fair still built up I can't find a route out so I took the Hobby caravan away first. On my return I expected to use the winch to pull out the skydiver now the ground was clearing. Not to be, in my absence "d" had decided to use the winch on the energy storm (51 ton), I knew instantly when I saw the winch rope coiled around the back doors. He had F****d it, not knowing what he was doing he had blown a seal on one of the piston caps of the hydraulic motor (hope this is all) . If only he had phoned, I could have told him how to use the thing properly, using a snatch block to increase the winch power. So now we had to do it all the old fashioned way with several lorries chained together. After about three hours the skydiver and energy storm were out. I could not turn the right way so I had to reverse the skydiver out the park and onto the road. Several others had to do the same. I was feeling tired, the heavy muddy conditions saps your strength. I take the loads back to the yard.
7pm, I arrive at the DZ and miami in time for pulling down. Only "r" and I so we do the DZ first. At 9:30 pm we leave with the DZ. I take it straight to Coatbridge to get it on site in the car park (its harder in the morning with cars in the way). At that "m" arrives with the show. I go back to get the skydiver and bring it in. It was now after 11 pm. Feeling tired I return to the yard, I will collect the miami tomorrow night after erecting the DZ in the morning.
All day the trailers,rides and lorries were towed out of the park. There was some tracking down that helped, but we really need more. The cost for what we had was £1400 for the two week fair and then there will be the reinstatement bill on top for the park. Next year will cost more.
The video clip is from the skydiver cab leaving Alloa, look out for the Toboggan trailer no2 parked on the left in the lay by.
The photo is the Toboggan trailer no1 reversing out the park.
I was up and away just after 8am to get another compressor. I went to a nearby B&Q and they had just the one. It was the same make and size, but oil-less. At least I won't have to check the oil in the future. I went directly to Alloa. I parked the jeep outside the fair because of the heavy muddy conditions to avoid making more mess.I carried the compressor in. My brother had removed the old one last night so I only had to bolt this one on. At that I remembered I had drilled holes to suit the mounting frame on the previous one so I would have to do the same again. Within an hour it was fitted and running. The cut off and pressure output was adjusted to suit the ride. If it lasts as long as the old one that will be ok (30 months). At that it was about turn and head off to open the Miami and DZ. My wife had returned the faulty one and received a refund.
Pull down Sunday night at Alloa, we have to stop at 10pm for the nearby houses. We are not going to get out quickly anyway, the mud will slow everything down, if the skydiver is off the park before 5pm that will be a bonus. At least the next fair is tarmac. Some other fairs nearby have had to be shuffled due to the weather. The winch will be thawed out tomorrow.
Alloa was pretty quiet on Thursday night. We closed just in time for me to catch the second half of the Gers match. The ground is really soft and getting out WILL be a problem. I left there this morning and went to open the Miami and DZ. The DZ wouldn't work! By looking at the position it was stopping at I quickly concluded that it was the same problem from last year (to the week). When "r" returned from uni, I got him to put the harness on and I sent him up on the gondola. He removed all the bands connections and cleaned them. It took around thirty minutes and at 2pm the ride was working again. Just oxidisation on the copper contacts. Later, just after 6pm I got a call to tell me the skydiver compressor was knacked and the ride was closed. I told "m" to go and buy a new one from any DIY store. For 7 pm the had bought one from Homebase in Stirling. They got back to the fair and quickly attached it. It promptly bust into flames!!! Obviously faulty. So back it went for a refund. I will get another in the morning then nip back to Alloa to fit it.
On the plus side-NO oil drip from the miami shaft seal today, yippee!, but it is early yet and I won't be getting too excited until at least a week. Nice night tonight, maybe the rain is leaving.
Been thinking about the business at Alloa. FACT->At Alloa the upright paratrooper rode more passengers on a Friday night in the early eighties than the skydiver will ride the entire fair 2008 (or ANY year since 2000). There are more showmen driving on Agency work during the summer (this year) than at any other time to try and make ends meet.
"R" and I returned to fit the new shaft seal to the Miami. The old seal was removed without a problem. On close inspection I could see no visible damage to the seal lips or the motor shaft. To be honest I think this is a futile effort, but I've got to try. So I put in another new seal. This time I positioned it slightly further from the cap face, about 8mm behind the original position. This would mean the seal was running on a new spot on the shaft and also give it room to move forward slightly if forced. I don't know if it will make any difference, but is must be worth a try.
The showers came on and off and after 50 mins the job was done.
Went and made enquiries at a local "bio diesel" manufacturer to see if there was any cost savings to be had. If there is a justifiable saving I might go Green. It would have to be cheaper though to justify the extra work involved as they don't deliver. There may also be cold starting issues during the winter. Making your own seems the only real cheap way, but who has the time to do that and play shows? This might be the only option though with the continuing fuel price increases.
I'm a Showman, travelling the FunFairs around the country as my fore fathers did. Often mistaken for other traveling communities due to having a caravan. I work hard to earn my honest living and pay taxes the same as the next man.
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