RCoasterny

Best. Animation. EVER! It's great to see an artist grow..

I didn't really "meet" them, but I got real close. Robb was selling his videos at a table a few PPP's ago, but I didn't get the courage to say "hi". While I was looking at the stuff he was selling, Elissa showed up! So, yeah- I was right in front of them but didn't say anything as Robb was busy talking with some other guy.

Here's another article from BBC news: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6121032.stm I also found which model got stuck upside down: the Move-It 18. Here's another news article that shows the photo of the ride stuck upside down: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/6119632.stm In reading the comments, they tried to turn it right side-up gently but couldn't. So they finally cut the feed lines to the hydraulic motor and the boom swung the seating area right side up.

Still too complicated! I remember someone developed a online system that was a simple point and click, and it was easy enough for me to participate! I found out about it here at TPR, I wonder if they will do it again this year?

Yeah, history would repeat itself.. Remember the VHS / Beta wars of the 80's? VHS=HD-DVD and Beta=Blu-Ray.

It looks like Knoebels increased the height limit. It used to be 36" without an adult, and before that, no height limitations! And the no height limitations was during the time when it could go as fast as the operator wanted! I think they added the limiter so the operators wouldn't do anything stupid. I did run it for a short time, and it's not easy! Here's what you had to do before the limiter was installed: The train only has one chain dog- on the 5th car. The first round is easy, just release the brake and then rev up the throttle so that the train can climb up the hill and then let off the throttle just before the 5th car clears the top to prevent over-revving the engine. When the train comes around the turn around back into the station, speed up the chain a little bit, just slower than incoming train. As the train goes through the station, modulate the throttle so that the chain is moving slightly slower than the speed of the train. As the front of the train reaches the bottom of the lift, the chain dog should be ready to engage with the chain and then you can rev up the engine so that the train can maintain speed up the lift or floor the throttle carefully and make the train climb the lift faster. Again make sure that you let off the throttle just before the 5th car clears the top of the lift. Repeat for a few circuits. For the last circut, make the train climb the lift slower so that it will crawl over the top of the lift. Engage the manual brake so that the train will slow down when it comes into the station. The brake runs the entire length of the station as well as a 3 foot curved section just before the station. As the train slows down, modulate the brake to keep the train moving, and under no circumstances let the train stop until the front of the car reaches the bottom of the lift. The operating procedures most likely has changed since the modification, and basically dumbs down the operation of the ride.

HSTC used to be very fast, until Knoebels "castrated" it a few years ago. I guess due to it being the only one left from Overland and it's age, Knoebels decided to tone it down a bit. They did this by putting an adjustable limiter on the throttle linkage. The speed is similar to Millenium Force's lift hill speed, but it used to be much, much more faster- You would go up the lift hill as fast as you were coming down the first drop! The bunny hills was like riding a mechanical bull...

Execpt for the time lapse movie of the Flying Turns construction! I have to use Parallels and WinXP just to watch the movie! It's more of Knoebels using an old, outdated video codec in creating the movie (Indeo Video). Even Real Player and the new Perian Quicktime Component won't play it. Maybe those Mac heads around here knows something I dont..

A swearing coaster? What would they think of next?!?!

I will be at Knoebels this weekend, but I won't be participating in the PhunFest.. I just feel that with the increased attendance at the Phunfest, I won't get my money's worth out of the whole event. I will check out the swap meet, and grab a ride on the Antique Cars-Haunted Edition using ride tickets... I will get a handstamp and ride the rides on Sunday instead- the ultimate last day of Knoebels for 2006... RC!

Happy birthday! Here's a picture of Derek five years ago I found in the TPR archives: And I tried to find a picture of Hersheypark's SooperDooperLooper loop and Great Bear's vertical loop in one picture, but couldn't find anything now, so this will do:

I went on one years ago and they are interesting to say at least... They pack more insane laterals than an Eyerly Roll-O-Plane. They are very confining and is enough to make an claustrophobic person have a heart attack. How it works: the train travels around the oval track. The oval track spins. At the "transistion point" which is the hub where the oval track spins on, you will go from looping in a counter-clockwise fashion to a clockwise spinning fashion in an instant, hence the insane laterals. This is why the operators enforce two riders per seat on the ride.

I helped out test the block brakes on the Jet Star coaster while it was at Knoebels. Even had to evacuate onto the catwalks when testing the block brake after the 540 degree helix due to a design flaw. The flaw was that the apex of the 540 degree helix (where the block brake is) was lower than the next hill so the car would roll off the block brake then stop half-way up the hill on the anti-rollback system. The catwalk was not long enough to reach the side of the stalled car, so we all had to climb to the front of the car and then step off onto the catwalk. What's worse is that the "catwalk" was actually two pieces of 2X8 planks nailed together!

Here's another one: http://errorke.zattevrienden.be/draaimolen.wmv I don't think you will be laughing at it...

Those metal tabs are the supports for the guide rails to keep the train from flying out of the trough. Geez. I posted pictures, no one said anything, and Johnny posts pictures and people comment about it! I guess nobody here appreciates me!

I've ridden the Space Shot, Turbo Drop, and the Combo towers. The combo tower is the better of the other two, as you get a nice pop of air at the top of the tower after the launch up. However, for the launch down, it is more predictable as there's a loud air release right before it launches downward.

I was at Knoebels last weekend, and snapped some pictures showing the progress of the Flying Turns. Things are coming along, and they are one bent away from the highest point of the ride. There's no footers for it yet, as well as any footers for the 2nd lift hill. Once they get the twisty trough and the shallow drop into the trough done, I'm sure they will drill and pour the footers for the rest of the ride. The only problem right now is that there's a crane and another ride in the way. Looking at the way the layout is positioned on the site and the location of the Looper, the Looper may not be moved as it can sit next to the Flying Turns, but then again, it might have to be moved to make room for the queue. I asked about the trains, and they are still building them. They have one part done, and are still working on the other part. It would be cool if they could have a car on display at the PPP! Now, onto the pictures: The prototype trough gets a few test coatings... What'll be? Rubbol Dek or good ol' Thompson? One bent away from the highest point! The Turns, in Technicolo®!! Woody with a Big Worm... Woody, Woody, Woody, Morning Woody... Looming high above the midway Old Glory on top of the tallest steel structure. First theming of the Flying Turns! Does that mean the train will have airplane wings? EXCLUSIVE THROUGH-THE-TREES FLYING TURNS SHOT!!!11!1 You'll need a hard hat for this area, and some coasters *cough*Ghostrider*cough*…

The news from Syracuse has a report on what happened: http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=8E4136D0-29EB-4824-9376-A8856719C81A Basically, the cables that pulls the carriage up the tower snapped at the halfway mark, causing the carriage to fall. 7 kids were hurt, two seriously enough to be taken to the hospital. The ride has been removed from the midway and a smaller attraction took it's place. What's more scary is that the cables are new- only 6 months old!

So, which fair over in Europe will I find a: Huss Booster, Huss Magic, Huss Take Off, Huss Flic Flac, Mondial Swinger, and an Mondial Inferno? RC!

WHAT?!?!? You didn't take pictures of the Magic, North America's only Huss Magic?!?! As for the restaurant next to Sky Screamer, It's been under construction since Sky Screamer opened.. It was even on the map last year. I went up there, found it still under construction, and asked a maintennance worker in the area when it would open. I even guessed a year- 2008. Ended up getting a dirty look from the worker.

Oh noes! Does that meen theire goin to close it like Steel Dragon?

All Pennsylvanian Schwarzkopfs don't have OSTR's- they still have the original lap bars!

The track was built in-house. Morgan provided the rolling stock. Seabreeze did some modifications when Whirlwind debuted. Thier plan was to convert it to a 2-car train. The Bobsled actually has 4 cars, one was probably in storage. They added an automatic system that would advance and stop the cars throughout the station by using a tire advancing system. Previously the cars were stopped by a spring loaded side friction brake, and was manually released by the operator. The Jack Rabbit is the only coaster in the park that uses manual brakes!

Not quite... it's more of an S&S Power design, after they acquired the Arrow company and made it into thier own coaster department.

Actually, that's a Weber model (Same model at Knoebels). Huss bought out Weber and now provide parts for the ride.