Site clearing and construction for maXair, US theme park Cedar Point’s new ride for 2005, is currently under way.

To be located off the park’s Main Midway near Kiddy Kingdom and the Space Spiral, the 84ft fall maXair has been designed and is being built by Huss of Bremen.

It will give Cedar Point a total of 68 rides and will be the centerpiece of a $10m investment project for the new season.

Fifty riders will sit in a circle of outward-facing suspended seats, and will be swung back and forth in a pendulum motion, while spinning clockwise at speeds of up to 70mph.

At the pendulum’s peak, they will be 140ft off the ground.

To create a different ride experience every time, the return drop is designed to generate varying forces on riders depending on their position during the clockwise rotation.

In a retro colour scheme of orange, blue, yellow and red, maXair’s first flight is scheduled for the park’s 7 May opening day.