Designer Times
Page 2 of 2
Since UST brought us the 2010 job in February 1985, and the show was to open by mid-June, we had to hustle with less than (100) days to finish. As fast as the manufacturing drawings were sent to the shop, parts and materials were purchased so fabrication could start. We couldn't wait for full and complete assembly drawings. We couldn't wait for full engineering stress analysis prior to manufacture. I'd always gotten away with the TLAR method of parts sizing.....That Looks About Right (from famed aircraft designer Burt Rutan).
UST hired structural engineer Kent Bingham of Entertainment Engineering to oversee our designs. Kent showed up one day to see what we were going to build only to find many parts already manufactured. As he quietly photographed our design for a report to UST, he casually told me that "this item will fail, that item will twist", and so forth. Oh gosh, we spent the money, we built the stuff, and it's not gonna work well. The look on Kent's face told me I goofed and I'd better fix it. He kindly showed me the various failure modes of certain materials and configurations.
With his help I could rearrange some parts and rebuild a few to satisfy his requests. We only lost a couple of days and maybe $100 of material in the revision. I was so impressed with his help that I made a big effort to be aware of all design pitfalls on all future jobs long before Kent sees them.
All future jobs had that relationship. I try to make a bulletproof design, he tries to shoot it down. The end result has been virtually no fiascos that the clients would later suffer. The big lesson was that a design must be logical and doable right from the first sketch. Never design something to meet the demands then force engineering to ram a messy design into final function.
By Memorial Day 1985 all the flying rig stuff was installed needing only the final positioning of travel limit switches. There were (72) of these critters to install over the weekend with everyone else on holiday....so I spent three days on top of a very tall ladder myself futzing these things into place. The rig worked as promised during the test and adjust sessions prior to opening day.
The 2010 special effects show played for many years at UST. A lot of guests were certainly thrilled to fly as astronauts on a perilous rescue mission and be seen on TV by their families in the audience. Universal did a very good job at immersing their guests in the show with this crazy flying rig idea.
Sequoia built a number of other show items for the other features of the 2010 special effect show....animated camera tracks, detail shot mechanisms and such. One feature was provided by a new computer animation company that had a clever little character to demonstrate the very early CGI, or computer generated imagery. His name was Pixar, and he would become very, very famous in the future.
oOo
Next Month: Universal Studios Hollywood King Kong Animated Figure.
Discuss It
Related Links
-- Bob Gurr
Bob Gurr began working with Disney in 1954. He retired in 1981 but occassionally consults for the Company. Since Disney he's worked on the sinking ship at Las Vegas' Treasure Island, Universal Studios' King Kong, Godzilla for the film by the same name and much more. Among his proudest accomplishments he lists "making Walt tickled pink that some of the things he wanted to build actually worked. You could tell how proud he was when he would show off things to his friends and the press. Lincoln and the Monorail were two big ones for him."
Designer Times is normally posted the second Wednesday of each month.
The opinions expressed by Bob Gurr, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of Disneyland and the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted April 14, 2004
Advertisement
MouseEarVacations.com
Where Magic Begins!
Concierge Style Service
at No Extra Charge!
Visit our website for more info!
Laughing Place Podcast
The LPP-oddcast celebrate Mickey's birthday, discuss the reopened Space Mountain and Christmas at Walt Disney World plus Reader Mail, Stump the Crew, the Captain's Challenge, 50 Words on 2012 and much more. Sponsored by HoJoAnaheim.com and MouseEarVacations.com.
Antenna Toppers and Accessories
Antenna Toppers of all styles including sports, holiday, animals, occupations and more. Hundreds to choose f rom.
LP Live Recent Picture
Posted: 11/21/09