At the Hindu Swasthani Mela festival held in Kathmandu earlier this month, I spotted a small ferris wheel that appeared to be non-functional. It consisted of four octagonal open-air cages and a simple metal frame. When two kids climbed into one of the octagons, though, a man got up on the other side and started jumping up and down, eventually getting the thing to turn like any other ferris wheel. Apparently this is pretty common in parts of Asia where electricity is not always readily available — like this much bigger two man-powered version filmed in India. The merry-go-round you see in the right corner of the above video, by the way, was powered by a used car battery.
Human-powered ferris wheel in Nepal
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They are indeed very common in rural India. (As are carousels with similar technology.)
The kids love it. Here's a human-powered Ferris Wheel at a Miao festival (ethnic minority) in southern Yunnan, China:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/weartpix/3301520620/in/set-72157614307834634/
Structurally identical wheels are common in Seoul as well, although I imagine those are gas or electric powered. They were always, like the one pictured, brightly painted.
They show wheels like that a lot in old Bollywood films. I believe there was one in Sholay.
These were common when I was growing up. Sometimes they are mobile and are pushed by the "giant wheel man" (not so giant really) who trundles through the neighbourhood calling out his arrival. This of course sends all the kids into a tizzy and within the space of a few moments he's gathered all the kids around him - in we all go, a nice ride with squeals and screams and then he's on his way to the next neighbourhood. These are quite small so they're mostly for really little kids but you can get onto large full size ones that are powered by people (imagine hamsters running on a wheel) ... a very fun experience - if you ask nicely the human hamster is sometimes willing to run a little faster and give you a nice speed boost! :-)
I saw a mobile one in Cairo - donkey and trailer - and I bought some kids a ride.
So... what happens if someone gets stuck at the top?
Very common in the developing world. My favorite for some reason was the traveling home-made pool table on wheels.
I love how the guy powering the wheel looks about as bored as most carnies pulling the levers at any other carnival.
It's not that there was no electricity in that village. After all, how many traveling fun fairs (even in the developed world) plug in their equipment into the power grid. Usually, they set up on an empty field and bring their own generators. Besides we can clearly hear amplified singing/music in the background. I'll be surprised if the PA was powered by 3 guys on stationary bikes with dynamo.
There's a bicycle-powered ride that occasionally shows up in San Francisco.
Bah! That's some new-fangled, over-engineered contraption, probably manufactured in India. Ferris wheels or swings (the Nepali word is "ping") are often built for the big holiday of Dashain in the fall. The old-school way of doing is out of hand-hewn lumber. Here are some photos by former Peace Corps Volunteers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7423580@N07/1259608579/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28397990@N06/2674447059/
dbarak,
Assuming you were serious... Gravity would pull them to the bottom. There's no gears or machinery to stop them, and they are the heaviest mass on a free spinning wheel.
Hey Xenu, I designed and built the six-person bicycle powered Ferris wheel that periodically shows up in San Francisco, Burningman and Denver. Alas, the Mark I model has been decommissioned and a new, much improved version is in the works.
Also there is a two-person version made by Cyclecide's "Paul the Plumber" of Bay Area fame, very fun so long as you are under 6' tall.
While hiking through Nepal a few years ago I saw a wooden version of one of these: http://www.flickr.com/photos/autarken/2093171231/
Also, homemade bamboo swingsets:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/autarken/2094155728/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/autarken/2094154080/
The best one I've seen is in the Juhu beach in Mumbai:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jvX1Kh4Cvw
Here is a 360 panorama of a human-powered amusement park in Damascus, Syria:
http://www.360cities.net/image/damascus-syria-amusement-park
by the intrepid Willy Kaemena, a great artisan of panoramic photography :-)
enjoy,
Jeffrey
Are these really that uncommon? There was one at my grandmother's house that could fit 8 adults (up to 16 small children) when I was growing up. My cousins and I used to take turns pushing. The trick was, of course, to make sure the weight was always balanced around the wheel.
reminds me of one in mussoorie, the guy walked it around, and when he got tired, would just lie flat and somersault in the middle for a while