Anac0nda

I like the colours, but man that is a loooooooong inline twist

Very nice looking indeed! I'm really interested in this project and can't wait to see what you come up with And the colours are great, too!

Well, the accelerating is easy: just throw the knob to 100 (percent) and just leave it there. The train will go on endlessly, but I've been told it faults after ten laps or so. The recommended is 3 laps, though. The tricky part is the braking: you have to start gradually slowing the train down during the last lap and slowly make it crawl the last parts to the station. When you finally want to stop the train, you have to be careful about the position: there are markings in the first car and in the platform. If they don't align within 1 meter, the lapbars won't open. It's the braking that makes this fun to operate and it can't be learned any other way than just through trial and error. It took me a few hours to finally be able to breathe and brake at the same time.

Here are the "big" rides I got to operate while working at Linnanmäki (during two summers). Sorry for the low quality, these were taken with my cell phone. Pikajuna (MACK Powered). Very easy to learn, but difficult to master. The manual speed control (the big black one) makes this one fun to operate Hurjakuru (Intamin rapids). The first one of its kind and the only one not to have a rotating disk -station. Operates actually from the platform and not from the booth when the ride is open. Most of the buttons control water features, only the ones on the lower right control the conveyers. Kirnu (Intamin ZacSpin). My favourite I studied how to operate this beast manually, although only mechanics are allowed to do that

Wow! I can't believe I actually won! This was a tight competition IMO and I thought I'd be about in the top three, but finishing first was more than I expected!

Came out pretty tight with the schedule, but I managed to make it in time. I present: Scarlet Rain Featuring a vertical loop, an old-skool hammerhead, a dive loop and a corksrew with tight helixes in the end. Track Exchange link

Sorry to break this to you all, but I don't really see this as such big or great news at all. You see, the area that's currently being "refurbished" is very minimal, I'd say about five kiddie rides, max. They have indeed something already going on: they have removed the park's dark ride (and as far as I know, it's not coming back) and dismantled the kiddie coaster Vauhtimato as well as a couple of kiddie rides in the nearby area. The park's management says all the rides will stay, but some will be relocated. And the thing about interactivity... well, you can check this link and see for yourselves... As much as I, too, would LOVE to have something even better than Tornado at Särkänniemi, this news actually made me a bit sad. All this mega-hype for an Angry Birds -themed swingset.

Here's my list, a bit different from the others posted here: 1. Kanonen - Liseberg 2. Speed Monster - TusenFryd 3. MotoCoaster - Särkänniemi 4. Half Pipe - Särkänniemi Altough Speed Monster launches faster than Kanonen, I still find the latter one to have more "oomph". It really felt like launching out of a cannon! Speed Monster has a way better layout, though. I especially like the very forceful Norwegian loop MotoCoaster and Half Pipe come nowhere near a 'real' launch, but it's better than nothing here in the north But don't get me wrong, they are both really fun!

Superb work with the Catfish Cove set! Love it! Just waiting eagerly to see some rides and especially coasters with that kind of nice theme. About those toilets: Belgabor's Invisible Doodads work for me at least, so try them.

Riding my first SkyLoop Ukko at Linnanmäki! In the back it was forceful and fast but in the front it was just pure insane! Also the views are nice while you are dangling uspide down above the capital of Finland, the city of Helsinki.

simaticable: I like it! Nice colours and good landscaping. I especially like those two lakes. The only thing is that the layout is a bit short. With the lift hill being so tall, why kill the speed so quickly with the MCBR? I'd add a few turns and/or curved hills right before that nice sweeping helix that leads to the MCBR. Also some s-benders on the track returning next to the lift hill would look nice and add excitement!

Excellent layout, I love it! Only a minor glitch seems to be between the two corkscrews: the transfer between the curves right under the zero-G has a weird kink. Maybe make it a continuous drop instead of leveling it in the middle? Other thing are the colors: I'd say it's a bit too bright and needs to be toned down a bit, maybe with white supports? I think the name Helios delivers even if the colors aren't that obvious Can't wait to see it completed with scenery and shrubbery!

viking86 got it right, it indeed is Vonkaputous! I thought I'd promote a bit my home park Linnanmäki. The photo is taken by myself and isn't cropped, but the pic is taken when the boats exit the tunnel right after the first drop (pic taken from the path lower in the right). This was an interesting round IMO, viking86 go for the next one!

I knew this wouldn't be a walk in the park but still no-one has got it right. How about if you ask some questions what you'd like to know and I try to answer without giving the answer too easily?

Nope, still remains a secret I guess I could give a hint: it's got single "cars" instead of trains.

Nope, nope and nope. Keep on trying though, don't give up!

RC Racer - Disneyland Paris www.rcdb.com/m/1170.htm?p=31617 Now try this one

Darn it, just last week I stumbled upon this but can't find it anymore!

2nd gen standup floorless tilting got my vote. After riding Hurakan Condor (PortAventura) and Fritt Fall Tilt (Gröna Lund) I fell in love! It's just so insane riding with your arms up as there is next to nothing your body touches on the way down. It really feels like you're falling free!

Linnanmäki opened it's gates yesterday but due to some reasons (I'm betting my money on too tight schedule) Ukko will not open to public until May 27th. Nonetheless I was still there to take pictures and enjoy the rest of the park. I was lucky enough to see the apparently first complete testrun on Ukko! It went smooth and was completely silent. Even the lift chain made no sound at all. They didn't run more than one testrun, though, but this seems like a good start! Ukko fits nicely and doesn't feel crowded at all. The only thing I don't get is the graphics. Ukko seems to have this "super-hippy-rainbow"-ish style which doesn't fit the ride at all in my opinion. I guess I'll just have to adapt. The queue area length also seemed way too short, but luckily there's room to expand after the queue area ends. Onto the pics: Ukko dominates the skyline The pride queue There will be another sign holding information about restrictions, but you'll have to settle for this for now, Larry It's sexy and twisty The exit area, though not finished yet All we need is a train There it is! I'll be back in a month to ride you!

Trackwork is now complete! (most of the pictures were taken by my friend Matias Laine) See RCDB for more pictures. Too bad Linnanmäki doesn't open until the 30th of April, but you bet I'll be there with my friend Matias!

12/20 The finnish-related questions were easy for me

Yesterday it was Christmas again, 'cause my order got all the way from the States to Finland! Tonight will be a coaster filled one Words cannot deescribe how excited I am to watch these, thank you so much Robb and keep up the awesome work! Here's my order. It had some stuff for my friend, too.

I suggest Doughnut's Pool Structures and Dasmatze's Swizz It!. I believe CD5 uses Doughnut's Pool Structure's (not 100% sure though) but combined with the Swizz It! kit you can make some neat and unique buildings.

Just these two beauties, taken at the Carnival of Lights in Linnanmäki this autumn: Kieppi, a HUSS Booster. Those lights are pure magic! Kieputin, a HUSS Top Spin. This is my desktop image