The Life of Delta Flyer / Eagle's Flight / Southern Cross

SFGAmfreak4life · Post by **SFGAmfreak4life** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 11:50 am

I think the skyride at the Milwaukee State Fairgrounds is the same kind as the one at Santa's Village.

I was at Cedar Point from the 2nd-6th and rode the Skyride about 6 times a day. On previous visits I didnt ride it as much but this time I did to cut down the walking a bit and its a nice ride too. Makes we wish GAm still had their skyrides.

BrianPlencner · Post by **BrianPlencner** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 7:15 pm

redfishpaw wrote:Previously in this thread there was mention of the three skyrides here in the Milwaukee area: The Summerfest grounds, The Zoo, and The Wisconsin State Fair Grounds. I went to the State Fair twice last week and took quite a few photos, including the skyride (The Sky Glider), check it out if your interested.

http://www.pbase.com/redfishpaw/fair2006&page=all

Also see the crowd in the 1st photo
The was the 155th year of the Wisconsin State Fair

Thanks for sharing the pictures!

I was hoping to go this year, but did not make it. Hopefully, I'll go next year.

RLAiello · Post by **RLAiello** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:24 pm

redfishpaw wrote:Previously in this thread there was mention of the three skyrides here in the Milwaukee area: The Summerfest grounds, The Zoo, and The Wisconsin State Fair Grounds. I went to the State Fair twice last week and took quite a few photos, including the skyride (The Sky Glider), check it out if your interested.

http://www.pbase.com/redfishpaw/fair2006&page=all

Also see the crowd in the 1st photo
The was the 155th year of the Wisconsin State Fair

Wow... this set of photos brought back a LOT of memories. I haven't been to the Wisconsin State Fair in YEARS. I have such great memories of that place. Especially that Giant Slide... It's like being a kid again.

Thanks for sharing these!!!!

da1gloc · Post by **da1gloc** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:51 am

If im not mistaken, one of the stations for the Delta Flyer/Eagles Flight is the current location of Funnel Cake foundry. Funny, I can still close my eyes and see the cabins comming of the station. I am corrent right??

BrianPlencner · Post by **BrianPlencner** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:54 am

da1gloc wrote:If im not mistaken, one of the stations for the Delta Flyer/Eagles Flight is the current location of Funnel Cake foundry. Funny, I can still close my eyes and see the cabins comming of the station. I am corrent right??

You are correct. Here's a picture that I took on May 29, 2006.

The outside of the building was really left as it was when it was the Eagle's Flight Station, except that they closed up the front. The paths are still on both sides of the building where you would enter / exit the ride as well. All they really did was modify the inside, and add seats in front of the building.

GreatAmerica4ever · Post by **GreatAmerica4ever** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 8:07 pm

In either 1983 or 1984, the Delta Flyer in Gurnee had an incident where park guests were stuck in the cars for a number of hours. I do not know why they could not remove the guests quickly, I just remember seeing this on the local news in Milwaukee and just thinking I was happy I was not there.

Does anyone else remember this?

The ride was soon dismanted and I wondered if that was also a reason the park elimanted this fun ride.

By the way, the Sky Glider at the Summerfest Grounds in Milwaukee and the Glider at the Wisconsin State Fair in West Allis had their rides operating this summer. There are always good lines to get on these rides.

redfishpaw · Post by **redfishpaw** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 8:12 am

Here is something I found interesting the other night on pbase. (my favorite photography site)
When I first glaced at the gallery I thought it was a giant abandoned skyride.
Then I looked closer to learn that it is an 1941 industrial
cableway, complete with buckets and it is still functional.

there are 128 pics in all, click on any to enlarge:

http://www.pbase.com/jakobe/limestone_cableway&page=all

dialup users

http://www.pbase.com/jakobe/limestone_cableway&page=1
(then go through the five pages)

This would be an awesome skyride. It goes over rivers, fields and through the woods, etc
Sorry if some of you may find this OT for here.
I just thought any skyride fan would want to see this.
If you read what the photographer wrote you'll note there is a
group trying preserve it and and possibly make this a tourist attraction.

SFGAmfreak4life · Post by **SFGAmfreak4life** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 12:04 pm

Thats pretty cool. I think it would be cool to see it as a skyride as long as it could be fixed up. Thanks for sharing!

that_guy · Post by **that_guy** » Fri Aug 18, 2006 12:08 pm

Interesting, the only problem with etourist attraction thing is going on a 4 hour ride, but it was like 4 sections right?

redfishpaw · Post by **redfishpaw** » Thu Sep 07, 2006 8:59 am

I have some follow up pics of the Milwaukee Zoo skyride which was mentioned earlier in this thread. (one on the 3 skyrides in Milwaukee, as dicussed) There are not many photos of this skyride around so I took a few shots. These photos were taken Sept 3 2006. ( I have video also). The skyride was installed about a year ago at the zoo, It is the old Poma double from Temple Mtn, OR. this is the 3rd time relocated. The ride is a straight shot round trip ride for $2.50 per rider. Also, other zoo rides can be seen in the photo gallery such as the carousel and train.

http://www.pbase.com/redfishpaw/2006_zoo

that_guy · Post by **that_guy** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:53 pm

Ok, I have a random question about the sky rides.

Today the skyride has an automatic release system that deploys each cabin a certain length apart on the wire, correct? Well then how did they regulate the length between cars when it first opened?

PGA ROCKS · Post by **PGA ROCKS** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:49 pm

How does the automatic release system work anyway?

WestBurbs14 · Post by **WestBurbs14** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 11:42 am

I remember seeing a Chicago TV news story in 1978 about an incident on the Southern Cross. (I peg it as 1978 because in the story, they showed the Tidal Wave, which I was excited to see because I hadn’t ridden it yet and didn’t till ’79. Since the TW didn’t open till ’78, that had to be the year of this incident.)

Most of the details about the Southern Cross episode I remember from a Chicago Tribune story the next day. Riders were left hanging for hours, and the temperature drop during the delay made the wait even more unpleasant. The most memorable quote from the story was of a nine-year old boy saying, "It was cold as hell, and I was scared as hell." The riders, when rescued, were carefully whisked to a warm building where dinner awaited them and, presumably, reporters did not.

SFGAmfreak4life · Post by **SFGAmfreak4life** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 1:31 pm

I haven't heard that story before, thanks for sharing.

I went to Six Flags Great Adventure in August and I rode the Skyride. Although I have only been on 4 sky rides this is by far the best. I wish I could have rode Delta Flyer/Eagle's Flight and Southern Cross so I could try to compare them. So if anyone is planning on going to SFGAdv make sure to fit the Skyride into your plans.

http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/Skyride.htm

jonrev · Post by **jonrev** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 4:31 pm

I believe the cars on Great Adventure's SkyRide are the cars from Delta Flyer / Eagle's Flight and Southern Cross.

GREATAMERICAparks.com

The Life of Delta Flyer / Eagle's Flight / Southern Cross

Delta Flyer stuck?

Incident on Southern Cross