hypercoaster2000

I just checked this out. Pretty amusing. Best part was a link to a "related" article about the Most Dangerous Airline Food. Shocking!

Wow. This thread has me feeling nostalgic. I will always feel bad about Shockwave, especially considering its fate and the roughness it got as it aged. The Shockwave was originally designed to go into New Jersey at the site of Great American Scream Machine. The world from Six Flags during the design for GAdv was to save as many parking spaces as possible in the parking lot so we squeezed everything into a very compact footprint. At the last minute, something that I can't remember happened to make it impossible to build the ride in NJ, so the ride was moved to GAm. We went out to see the site at GAm and i immediately asked to redesign the ride for GAm's more spacious parking lot, but was denied. so the ride designed for GAv's cramped parking lot was built at GAm. that ride was our first above 150', i think it was around 165 or so ( it was meant to be the world's tallest but i think something taller opened in Japan earlier that year and so it was billed "the world's tallest looping coaster"), we were still learning how the really big rides behaved and it turned out that they were a little faster than we thought, with the greater height and length of the ride amplified the effect of extra speed and forces on the ride that probably factored into its early retirement. we made a little change in the ride for GAdv the next year to open it up and suck up some more energy (and also use more parking spots). thanks for letting me share

Here's a little bit of trivia for y'all. Back when Arrow's XLR-8 was being designed for AstroWorld, stand-up coasters were just starting to be introduced. Well some big-wig in the Six Flags organization though that is would be a good idea if that ride could be converted into a stand-up ride, so there was enough clearance to the supports, ground and anything else to clear the additional length to fit a standing passenger coach. This was also the early days of Six Flags' ride rotation policy, so all the footings for the supports were set at a common elevation to facilitate a move to another "flat" site. Being a young guy at the time, I questioned both decisions since (1) to me part of the fun of the suspended ride is swinging close to stationary objects, which were placed farther away for the stand-up clearance and (2) I remember that there was a boat ride or something under XLR-8 and we spent a lot of effort to avoid that and I figured that there probably was not another site like that anywhere. Anyway, when I heard that AstroWorld was closing, I thought about how "easy" it would be to move that ride somewhere and make it a stand-up, but unfortunately neither thing happened.

Hello again friends, Thanks for all your support, bids and kind words. I have the last of the my Morgan swag and a couple of other items for you to check out on eBay. Its a bunch more Morgan shirts, sweatshirts and a jacket. I also found a "can of eels" a promotional item from Sea World Texas' Steel Eel and a hat that I wore on Opening Day for Mamba. Thanks again for looking, Steve blue sweatshirt http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190358932419 hooded sweatshirt http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190358936693 white sweatshirt: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190358942000 jacket: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190358948679 black polo: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190358953356 white polo http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190358956052 teal polo http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190358960805 can of eels: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190358965503 mamba hat http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190358968620

As if I am sitting out there with my hand on the button, sounds like a controls problem to me.

Check out this polo shirt http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190356971374 nice, eh?

That's what I'm saying, I thought auctions were exciting By the way, the photo in the textbook was on Wild Thing, I snapped it myself with a disposable camera held at arm's length What is MCBR?

Really? And how much cash would you back it up with? I have an extremely tasty piece of Arrow swag that I would think of keeping, but could be convinced to sell if I thought anyone would bid. Really people, $20 is a good deal for a jacket, don't you think? I mean what would Six Flags charge you for that? Okay enough of the hard sell, I feel like enough of a prostitute as it is. As for what is was like to work for Morgan; strangely enough it was just like a job. Unfortunately, the couple of days when you dream up something cool is followed by hundreds of days figuring how to make it work. That all probably makes me sound like a grumpy old man but I assure you I started out as an angry young man. Thanks for compliments on PR, it was of fun to work on changing that ride. Excuse me if I mess this process, I haven't really done this before.

Hi roller coaster fans and donkey lovers! My name is Steve Okamoto, I am a former employee of Arrow and Morgan. I designed most of Arrow's rides from 1985-1989 and all Morgan's coasters. I have a some clothing that I have obtained over my years with Morgan that I am selling on eBay. Most of this stuff was made in small quantities and therefore it is rarely seen, especially by the general public. In fact, I wore my shirts almost exclusively on job sites around the country and world. I gave away a few shirts to Japanese co-workers on Steel Dragon 2000 and some other friends at domestic parks, so this is your chance to wear an extremely rare piece of authentic coaster swag. Thanks for looking in. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190356673057&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190356676583&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190356676583&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT