Thurston replaced the centre paybox with a side paybox early in 1980, at the same time adding the famous sign that drew upon the early computer fonts common amongst much of the popular science fiction of the day. The ride has enjoyed a celebrated history, passing over to Charles Thurston at the end of 1979 and causing a storm on Thurston's famous early season run of mid-lent fairs. This initial model still used a build-up floor (as did the early Mark II models) though it was converted to a folding system in the early 80s. This meant that the lifting centre – common to all subsequent Orbiters – did not apply to the Mark I model, the ride instead using neat drop-down steps on each car. Its basic features were similar to later models in that it had 18 cars mounted on 6 arms, with the centre column rotating at up to 15 rpm and the arms at up to 20 rpm, but the Mark I model utilised a centre paybox. Henry Smith's machine represented the only Mark I Orbiter to be travelled in this country. It would only be a couple of years before Wilsons themselves invested in a machine of their own, by which time late 70s novelties such as the Scat and Hustler already had one foot in the fairground twilight zone. The lessees of the fair, Bob Wilson and Sons, were themselves debuting with their Scat and they could only have been hugely impressed with the performance of the Orbiter. Indeed, the riding pattern had many people struggling for words or comparisons, with the travelling debut of Smith's Orbiter (Stratford Mop, 1977) provoking this response from World's Fair reporter Rod Spooner best described as a combination of Octopus and Jets with a little bit of the Twist thrown in for good measure. Commentators remarked on the silence of the operation, with Woolls revealing that the project had picked up various nicknames such as Whispering Giant and Ghost due to its ultra-quiet hydraulic mechanism and intense riding pattern. The Orbiter shattered this calm with an explosion of light, speed and movement – the space-age had arrived on the fairground. The trend in the late 70s was for US imported novelty rides such as Rock-o-planes, whilst scores of gently revolving Lifting Paratroopers and Trabants were satisfying what many people thought were the thrill capacities of the majority of the fairground public. Woolls worked for two years on the first production model, with an intention to use emerging technologies to shape something wholly new rather than just becoming part of the slowly evolving movement to incorporate new techniques in hydraulic engineering into existing ride types.
The suggestion that he create his own project set the mind working of the former showman who had plenty of experience in heavy industrial engineering, and the resulting prototype grabbed the attention of both showmen and the riding public across the world. The project had been instigated by a joke between Woolls and his brother-in-law Bob Nichols, who constantly pulled his leg about the amount of time Woolls spent repairing machinery. Former traveller Henry Smith invested in the blueprints and enthusiasm that had been advertised by Richard Woolls in the World’s Fair, and became the first owner of the Orbiter. In the late summer of 1976 a new ride appeared at Margate's Dreamland Amusement Park that was to change the shape of fairground technology. Evolved throughout the 1990s to include more inverted possibilities. 6 arms with 3 cars follow a Twist style rotating motion - the centre lifts and the arms pivot outwards. Summary: Ground-breaking UK invention showing the first innovative use of hydraulics. Manufacturer(s): Woolls, Norson Power, Thurston
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