Aceattack52

Ok here are some screen shots of just one of the many Accelerometer apps you can download. This particular one in called SensorLog. It was pretty good, except there is no way of viewing the graph after you record it. It can export all of the data in a CVS document will all the info if you really wanted to decipher specific values. I believe that the X axis is the top of the phone to the bottom of the phone, the Y axis is the left to right side, and the Z axis is the front to back. With that being said, it seems like X would be acceleration, Y would be laterals and Z would be airtime/positive downward G's. I'll try to get a better app for Carowinds. This was MindBender at SFOG. This is the entire ride from the base of the lift hill to as soon as you hit the breaks.

Ok, here is just a small trip report about what was going on today. I didn't want to come up with a full report because other people have submitted full and complete ones a few times in the last couple weeks already. Some of the things I noticed this trip- -Batman seemed to rattle and was unusually loud. -MindBender gets very violent at the bottom of the inclined helix (2nd loop) and shook the hell out of me. -All of the water rides were open, despite the park saying that they would be closed until May 17th. (Log Jamboree, Ripsaw Falls, others, they were all open) -Whoever did the retracking for the Georgia Cyclone did a pretty good job, but there are still some areas that could use work towards the end of the ride, though. -Dare Devil Dive seems to be the most popular ride in the park, it was the only ride with a line. (it was about 30 minutes) -The Scream Machine got some new track on the first turn! -Goliath was a walk on even with one train. Here is what I was able to do: MindBender: 37X Goliath: 12X Great American Scream Machine: 4X Batman: 5X Superman: 3X Georgia Cyclone: 3X Georgia Scorcher: 2X Dare Devil Dive: 1X Here is what was running what: MindBender: 2 trains Goliath: 1 train (C'mon Six Flags) Great American Scream Machine: 10:30-12:45 2 trains, 12:45-5:00 1 train Batman: 2 trains Superman: 1 train Georgia Cyclone: 1 train Georgia Scorcher: 1 train Dare Devil Dive: 4 cars *There was this one ride op working over at MindBender that was doing an amazing job (I think his name was David). He and the other ride op would have a race to the end of the train checking everyone's restraints. They were keeping tally too, I think he was losing when I left, but that's all right. He was the reason there was ABSOLUTELY NO stacking at all. They had to wait for the train ahead of them to dispatch! New wood for the Scream Machine. (Taken with permission from the ride op!) I was VERY disappointed Six Flags decided it was "OK" to run only one train on Goliath. But since it was a walk on even with one train, I -suppose- it's all right. MAN DOWN! MAN DOWN! Where is everybody? (Today was Easter) I though this was something kind of interesting. SkyScreamer was still doing nothing. But it looked like they weren't done with some other construction stuff. (Bottom right) I though it was kind of funny that even SFOG refers to themselves as SFOG.

Yeah, I can see that. But it's not a REAL observation tower like Carowinds has. Carowinds' observation tower serves no purpose but to be used as such.

One of the best I could think of is the over banked turn on the Ga Scorcher. It's at just the right point in the ride and ties in perfectly with the corkscrew and turn into the break run. It's shown in the middle of the picture, toward the left. (Near the corkscrew)

^ They're so small, they don't even look like trims.

Yes, what I've noticed on those Arrow loopers in that they seem to have -relativiely- smooth elements, but transitions between those elements are rough, uncomfortable, and throw you around a lot.

Why was a park been built so close to the cemetery?

I wouldn't be surprised of they didn't have any standards for safety over there. As it turns out, there's only about 4 operating roller coasters in Cambodia.

They're perfect! The usual generic, unthemed trains are great and all, these have really blown it away.

Ha ha. Probably not long!

This got me thinking about Mindbender at SFOG. It's been around for so long now. (Since 1978) It is still a great ride and always has been, but you said that all coasters have lifespans. When will Mindbender's usable lifetime end? Fortunately, the only issue Mind Bender would have is the trains aging. That can be fixed by getting new ones from Gerstlaur. I know, it's really nice Gerstlaur is making new trains for the Schwarkopfs. Hershey Park got the new trains for SooperDooperLooper and they really look fantastic.

I would say the Scream Machine at SFOG, but not solely because of the layout of the track. What I really like is how the layout of the track comes together constructively with the lake and the huge, open lawn towards the back and along the river (you pass this area during the middle of the ride).

Powder Keg and Wildfire seem to be doing well. That's good to see. Very trip report as a whole though.

I'd like to see what the numbers are like on Outlaw Run. That ride had me out of my seat for what seemed like most of the ride. And there was the weird sideways airtime on the 90 degree turn after passing through the lift hill supports. OH YES! No doubt Outlaw Run is going to be up there. If you get a chance to ride it again, get an accelerometer app for your phone. You can turn the app on when you are about to get on, and let it run the whole ride with the phone in your pocket and that will tell you during which portions of the ride you experienced airtime. It's pretty cool collecting your own airtime data! Interesting; I didn't know such a thing existed. And I will be riding OR again; SDC is my local park, and we've got season passes. I'm going to SFOG tomorrow, I'll download it and see if I can post some screenshots- I've never actually done it before, but it should work.

Tons of people have ridden these things. They're all over the country!

It looks like a lot of work has been getting done; hopefully another update will be coming soon!

^ That would be a good one for the "Weirdest things the GP have said" thread.

^^ That seems like it could be annoying. If you can see the stem, that means it's a cold day. If the steam condenses on you, that may lead to a miserable ride and rest of the day even. ^ They probably will wait, but I'm sure someone will forget and it will happen eventually. Unless there's a proximity sensor on the locomotive track that will tell the Outlaw Run operator if there's a train coming.

Yeah, that's what we're missing at SFOG. It seems like tons of other parks have observation towers, but not once in the history of SFOG have we had an observation tower.

I'm not sure why you would bring an iPad to an amusement park anyways. I guess it could either be called being an idiot or called having a disposable income.

You're missing out if you haven't been. Another great place is called The Volstead. It is regional as well, and they have burgers better than any you have tasted before. They cook the meat in Coors; it wouldn't even fit on a scale between one and perfect. There is a few in Charlotte as well.

^ Yeah, the real thing is rough enough.

Things are looking good. I'll be there tomorrow. It sounds like they're using the gondola almost like a scaffold, where they're using it to get people and supplies to the area that needs work. Pretty good.

I would have to say Busch Gardens is probably the closest to the top of the line in terms of theme park food.

Yeah I do agree with this, new trains could probably do it some good.