Sir Hiram Maxim’s Captive Flying Machine

Nigel has just finished a new work for conductor Helen Harrison and the Blackpool Symphony Orchestra to be premiered in the orchestra’s 2023 autumn concert season in 12th November. The work is entitled `Sir Hiram Maxim’s Captive Flying Machine’

Nigel’s work is a energetic musical celebration of Sir Hiram Maxim’s Captive Flying Machine, one of the oldest fairground amusement rides in the world – Maxim’s ride took centre stage at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in 1904 is still an attraction for holidaymakers today. Hiram Maxim’s invention is, in many ways, a gigantic merry-go-round with suspended rocket-shaped capsules – the faster the ride goes around, the more the rocket cars splay out, giving its passengers a sensation of flying!

Hiram Maxim (1840 – 1916) was an American/British engineer and inventor known for inventions such as the hair-curling irons, the mousetrap and steam pumps. In 1901 Hiram Maxim received a knighthood for his innovations; he even patented a pocket menthol inhaler to help relieve the effects of his bronchitis. Maxim used his fairground ride to help subsidise his interest in developing powered flight, but these efforts did not succeed. On a darker note, Hiram Maxim is credited as the creator of the first automatic machine gun, the `Maxim Gun’.

More details will be posted soon about  `Sir Hiram Maxim’s Captive Flying Machine’.

Sir Hiram Maxim