RCoasterny

While the MotoCoaster (or whatever name DL will name it) would make me visit Darien Lake at least once this year, if they brought back the Crazy Quilt, I would probably visit the park more often! At least they got the Ranger working right last year, and the UFO is fun. I miss the Cornpop.. I mean, Rodeo Round-Up. It used to run very well before Premier/Six Flags took over, and I hope that PARC will bring it back to factory specs! Twister could be a great ride, however DL is running it on medoicore programs (Geauga Lake ran excellent programs on thiers back in 1996).

I've watched the video several times, and it does look like a fun ride. It's not extreme like an Intamin Rocket, but might have a fun factor similar to a wild mouse. There's two zig zag sections, similar to a motor bike zig-zagging, and the last turn into the brakes is taken pretty quick, and could pack some G's. The restraint system is the same one used on the Disko. You can download / view the video on the Zamperla Website. Here's a direct link to the page where you can see the video: http://www.zamperla.com/informazioniTecniche.asp?scheda=6&codiceMacchina=530

The only thing that I remember vividly about the Looping Starship at SFGAdv were those #$@! nutcrackers... Talk about restraint overkill! It makes the restraint system on a Huss Fly-Away look like a PTC buzz bar.

Sorry, we don't do pirated stuff here. Go buy the software, or better yet, ask for one for christmas.

My goals for 2008 are: Flying Turns (on opening day!) Fahrenheit Behemoth -RC!

I wasn't abducted. I just walked right on. I wasn't even under hypnosis.

I've seen a few UFO's, and even ridden in two of them...

I'm hoping for a 2 stage snowblower... I know it sounds sad and pathetic, but I don't need anything else, because I already have them...

It's nice to live in a city that is also the HQ for Wegmans. We have Wegmans of varying sizes everywhere... One thing that sucks is that there's no IKEA around here, but there's a bunch only an 3 hour drive away- in Canada. Damn you, duty taxes!

Nope. You're still wrong. How do I know? I used to operate Knoebel's former Whirlwind coaster, which is a Vekoma coaster. The brakes always default to closed as long as there is air in the supply line. That's why I know how Vekoma brake systems works. The Vekoma braking system is actually an Arrow design, just like the train and the track design. Tmcdllr is correct about the brakes. They always default closed in the event of a power failure. We've had power outages at Knoebels due to thunderstorms. Did the train leave the station? Nope. It stayed right where it was. Every night, we shut off the main power to the coaster. No power to the hydraulic systems, air compressors, computer control, etc. Did the train leave the station? Nope. It stayed right where it was. Now David, rather than looking like a complete idiot thinking you are right, why don't you accept the fact that you are wrong, and correct yourself? Tmcdllr, I wanted to point out how Vekoma designed the Boomerangs, as well as the Invertigo (Two-Face is an Invertigo). Vekoma uses a hydraulic drive system for the winch that pulls the train up the first hill, and for the chain lift on the second hill. The same is true for the Invertigo. The winch system is in a big box above the station at the base of the hill. Now if a hydraulic line ruptured at the winch system, you can expect a shower of hydraulic fluid inside the station. Hydraulic fluid is the same as brake fluid. If you've read the warnings on a bottle of brake fluid, the same applies to hydraulic fluid. With a running hydraulic system, the fluid can become hot. I can assume that it's no fun to be sprayed with hot hydraulic oil. The news stating that everyone got sprayed with hydraulic fluid was probably when everyone went under the winch with the ruptured hydraulic line and the pump still pumping fluid.

Nope. You got it backwards. The airbags inflate to close the brakes, while the spring opens the brakes when the airbag deflates. Now if the air line between the valve and the brake's airbags ruptures, the brake will open. However, if it's only limited to one brake, the train will still be able to stop. It'll just take a bit longer to stop, like how your car takes a bit longer to stop in snowy weather compared to dry weather.

Hyper: Magnum XL 2000 Suspended: Vortex @ Canada's Wonderland (for now...) Looping: Dragon Mountain @ Marineland Mine Train: Cedar Creek Mine Ride

That sudden stop could be the brakes switching from normal braking to e-stop mode. Vekoma designs their brakes to have two different pressures, one for normal braking and the other for emergencies. The air line going into the control box for each brake is at a very high pressure, well above 100 PSI. In the control box the line splits into two and goes through pressure regulators. One regulator will keep the pressure at a lower pressure and the other will have the pressure at a higher pressure, usually double the lower pressure. A 2 way valve on the lower pressure line opens and closes the brakes. On the higher pressure line, there is a standard valve that only increases the braking pressure, while the valve for the lower pressure line will release the brakes. There is also a reservoir with a check valve that will supply pressure in case the supply line looses pressure.

I was there, even in the station. I was one of the first group into the station. Jim Martini gave a short lecture about the Flying turns. They then started two of the 3 lifts. The "test mule" that was shown in the videos was sitting on the first lift. The lifts run more slower than the normal lifts. I don't know if that is its actual speed, or they slowed it down for testing. Finally they started the 1st lift and the short train climbed up and went through the course. One strange thing is that the coaster is very quiet. The only loud thing was the lifts running! There are two operator stations. You have the main one in the loading/unloading station, and there is a second one at the end of the long brake run before the 3rd lift. I got videos of the ride, I will edit them and post them here.

Tune in next week boys and girls where we will see Thrillrideseeker decide that the best thing for him is to be just a house boy with a sugar daddy!

I don't think everyone realizes this, but this is not a full size Top Spin. Yes, it's a Huss Top Spin, but the smaller version, the Top Spin Junior. This one has a capacity of 28 people, not the normal 40 people capacity the standard Top Spin has. To make a full size Top Spin flip that many times would require exact timing of the arm movement, and probably cannot do the flips as easily as the Junior model would. The reason the Junior model can do the flips easily is because it is much more lighter and can do the flip without the brakes, where the full size and the Giant sized model would need the brake to position the gondola in the right position to do a flip.

I'm just guessing here, as I haven't built something like what you're doing yet ( I keep focusing too much on roller coasters... ).. I'm assuming it is because there's no link between Station 2 and Station 1. Maybe add another unit on the back of station one to get the link from Station 2 to Station 1? How do you make the boat get from Station 1 to Station 2? Or does the boat just take a random path from Station 1 to Station 2? Can you dictate what path the boat is to take to get to the other Station, and if so, can't you create another path to get back to Station 1. Think of it as a roller coaster, you need to create a loop. Even if you have two stations, you still need to create a loop to get back to the original station.

Ahh, yes. I remember riding Hercules in its early years. It screamed through the turn over water, getting my nuts busted on that sudden drop before the station fly-by (the one after the turn after the tunnel under the station). I came back to Dorney years later, riding it after Cedar Point had their hands on it and thinking, "WTF?". If GCI or Intamin resurrected the layout, it would make the coaster gods pleased...

I agree with Terrance here... You need to start somewhere. The way you talked sound like, "I quit BGA because operating Shiekra was boring!". "Pushing a button all day isn't what I wanted!", "I don't wanna be walking around yanking on shoulder restraints and checking belts!"... When I started working on the rides at Knoebels, I started with the kiddie rides. The worst ride to run is the Kiddie Boats. They have those bells on them, and boy do the kids love to ring them. All day long, I had to listen to those bells ringing.. It was annoying, but I did my job. I didn't quit, I kept on. What came of it was that it made me enjoy running the other rides more. I moved on up to the bigger rides the next year, and even had to run the Flyer in the hot weather! Sitting 6 feet from a hot engine is no fun, but I didn't complain. I didn't quit. I simply brought a big jug of ice tea and had it often. Knoebels was smart to rotate the operators between the Flyer and the Paratrooper during the day so I would go from running a ride with a hot engine and then running a ride that acts like a big fan when it's operating. Frankly, I think you deserve a job position sweeping the midway or a burger flipper instead of a ride operator. That would make you appreciate your job more.

Darn! You bet I WILL be there come April when Knoebels opens for the 2008 season! By then the Flying Turns will be fine tuned, and running like a well oiled machine. I would rather see Knoebels finish the ride right, and resolve any saftey issues that might arise during testing... It will be fun to see the ride run its paces, sans people at PPP. I was concerned about the transistion between the trough and the side friction track as how the train would guide itself into the side friction track with such an abrupt transistion and nothing to funnel the train into the side friction style track. Keep up the good work!

Ahh yes.. The Roll-O-Plane. At Knoebels it's called the Satellite. Here's a link to a picture of the ride (courtesy of JoyRides): http://www.joyrides.com/kennywood/roll_o_plane.htm This is located at Kennywood, Knoebels is the same kind of ride, including the tilt mechanism. Did Little A-Merrick-a 's version tilt? Meaning it went from vertical to horizontal where you would roll side to side? Knoebel's has the best visuals when the system tilts to horizontal. When the tub rolls so that the door is pointing down, you are over the canal for the Motor Boats.

at the Fascination cartoon! That's exactly how I felt when playing Fascination with a building full of older people at Knoebels! They're so skilled at it that I only got two lights and the game was over!

I just heard from Coastin Steve over at RRC saying that the Flying Turns might open for PPP! They just test rolled the transfer table section between the helix and the 2nd lift. The track section also has an airtime hill! The side friction track from the top of the first lift leading to the helix is being constructed now. The 5 car train chassis is now at Knoebel's shop from the manufacturer, and from the sound of it, it will have wooden bodies and padding. They could have it ready for testing within a week or two.

It's interesting to see how the area the Phoenix resided in has changed over the years. Pre-Antique Cars, Pre-Cub Cars, Pre-Fandango... You can see the original controls for the brakes before they switched to pushbutton control. There's even a nice cameo appearance of the Flying Turns' designer- John Fetterman.

Yeah, that looks like an operator for the Motor Boats trying to adjust the engine speed. It might have been running erratically or a bit too fast. The engine speed that Knoebels usually sets is slightly faster than idle. Did you see any structure between the two gaps, the one between the first lift and the helix, as well as the one between the helix and the 2nd lift?