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CK: So, what qualities do you think make KMG rides so popular?

KMG: “Very easy to build up and move from one fair to another. We always try to eliminate loose parts. A showman only needs to move part one time; from the storage to its final position in the ride.

“When possible we do not want to take parts apart and have everything connected together. The founder of KMG Isje and his son Albert were always travelling showmen and know how things need to be working on a fair.”

We decided to show Fabbri how a one-transport Afterburner should look like

CK: Many of your rides come in different sizes. Is this by design, or do you only work on different variations if showmen express an interest in smaller/larger versions of the ride?

KMG: “Usually we design a ride according to what we think is the best combination between showmens’ wishes and the ride which is easy to build up. In the first place we must believe in the design, otherwise it’s not gonna work. After the ride is finished, there might be several factors to change the ride size.

“Sometimes the ride is sold to a static location and build-up time is not an issue. The main design of our rides is constructing the system to fold the ride onto a small transport. When the ride is due to operate in a theme park, there is more space to build a larger construction.

“Therefore we designed a larger brother of our Afterburner 24 ride, the Afterburner 32 (Vortex at Thorpe Park). While the market of rides was shrinking in 2001, Fabbri announced their copy of the Afterburner ride as a 24-person, 1-transport model.

“When their ride was finished, they just copied our ride without reducing the number of loads, and we discovered that many showmen were requesting an Afterburner ride on only one lorry.

“We decided to show Fabbri how a one-transport Afterburner should look like. We had to decrease the number of seats to 16 to make it possible, but this was not a problem for the showmen. The ride was cheaper, easier and still the same height as the Afterburner ride.”

CK: How big a part do theme parks play when you design rides? Were rides like Afterburner 32 designed specifically for theme parks, and would you ever design a ride for a park before you design it for showmen?

We will only make a theme park model after a transportable, and not the other way around

KMG: “Our roots are in the transportable rides. We get the most satisfaction from designing the transport systems of the rides.

“In our eyes, everybody can design a ride for a theme park if space, weight and size of parts do not matter. The main challenge is to create a large ride with a small transport.

“Therefore we will only make a theme park model after a transportable, and not the other way around.”

CK: Can you explain a bit about KMG’s relationship with Chance Rides? Do they simply sell your rides in America, or do they fabricate them from your plans too? Why is this?

KMG: “The relationship started to help them with giving them work since the business for USA factories was slow. We helped by designing a ride for them, they helped us by giving us an entrance into the theme park world.

“The first ride was built by us (Vortex) and after the first one, Chance rides took over the production of the Revolution rides. We even designed a 20-person version of the Afterburner ride, which is also being built by Chance Rides Manufacturing.”

CK: What role do trade shows, magazines and the internet play in advertising KMG? What proportion of rides are sold as a result of direct marketing and how many are sold simply through word of mouth?

KMG: “Most of the rides are sold by word of mouth, but in the last few years especially a lot of rides are sold by advertisements in magazines like Kirmes and Park Revue.”

CK: Do the designs of your ride vary slightly from country to country so they meet standards set by TUV and British Health and Safety (for example)?

XXL had different challenges, since a lot of parts were quite large in size or weight Image: Paul, Kermisweb

KMG: “We design the rides to meet German DIN standards so the rides are approved by German TUV. Most of all local authorities respect the TUV as a defining body and agree with DIN standards.

“The new Euronorm standard which has been used since 2005 is roughly based on this DIN standard. All rides are manufactured the same and all electrical installations are the same regarding standards.”

CK: Do you face the same challenges and hurdles every time you design a ride, or do they vary according to the ride? What are these challenges?

KMG: “Every ride has its own challenges. Depending on the ride there are different things that cause the challenge. The Tango, for example, has a great height and has a lot of measures (read: challenges) to secure the riders safety when power is lost or a failure occurs when the main arm is up in the air.

“A swing like the Afterburner will always come to a safe position when drive power is lost, but the Tango needs some measures and devices to get the arm down safely.

“The XXL had different challenges, since a lot of parts were quite large in size or weight. Parts which could be lifted by hand on the smaller Afterburner rides, were becoming too heavy on the XXL ride.” Continues...