Rush, Pendulum ride at Thorpe Park, England
Rush is a pendulum ride at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England, where two opposing arms swing riders in opposite directions at the same time. Each arm carries a row of seats fixed to a large arc that builds momentum until riders are nearly vertical above the ground.
Rush opened in 2005 as a larger version of the Screamin' Swing model built by American manufacturer S&S Power for Thorpe Park. It was one of the first rides of its kind in the UK, at a time when parks were beginning to adopt multi-seat pendulum designs.
Rush takes the idea of a classic fairground swing and scales it up to something far more physical. Riders often say the sensation feels different from typical swinging rides because the motion builds gradually before reaching full height.
The ride has two separate loading platforms, one for each arm, so both sides board largely independently of each other. Arriving early in the day or later in the afternoon tends to mean shorter waits, as queues often build up around midday.
Although Rush has two arms moving at the same time, they are not mechanically linked to each other and each is driven by its own separate pneumatic system. This means the two sides can technically swing at slightly different rhythms, though in practice the difference is barely noticeable.
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