The Circus Blog

Posted By thecircusblog on April 7, 2013

This truly is an unbelievable stunt. One hundred and 16 feet free fall point into these boxes as seen here on the right. As Ron Nix ascended up the Sky Ride tower the crowd became silent, The only thing heard now and again was a whisper. Do you think he can do it. Their fear for this stunt man’s life was evident. Legend City had four main towers that ran from one end of the park to the other. Twenty gondolas traveled across the park on a steel cable. These gondolas could carry up to 5 passengers. At each end of the park there was a loading and an unloading station. Same principle as a sky lift. This tower was the tallest of the four and was located in the center of the log rides lagoon. We constructed a wooden dock that held the boxes in place….. Note, Ron did not use an air bag for any of his stunts. He preferred cardboard boxes…… A little side note…. Ron Nix is a professional stunt man and still is to this day at 67. He started his career in the movie business. He came to work for us in 1976 when Legend City first opened. Ron was actually hired to put on  old time shoot em up cowboy shows in our western town located at the far end on the park. Our steam locomotive carried park visitors on a mile and half trip around the park and stopped at the old western town for a stunt show. Sometimes when Ron remembered he and his desperado’s would rob the passengers on the train. It was all done in great fun and people loved it……. This free fall from the sky ride tower was his idea. I admit  myself and Bill Capell were skeptical. He had done many free falls before in the movies and at special events but never one at this height 116 feet. I spoke with Ron today and told him that I had found these 35 mm slides photos that I thought were lost. These photos were shot by my friend and right hand man Mike Cappi. Mike worked for me at Legend City and with Henry Bros Circus.

Categories: Legend City
Tags: