fmulder21 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Wow! Went today and i was dissapointed to see it closed. I noticed a large boom deal near the front. Saw a full car of riders coming down the lift. What a full train!? I got off with my cousin and they recruited us to ride for a commercial/photo shoot. We had to sign a release and we were off. We got to ride atleast 7 times before they let a bunch of paying people on. The shooting crew was real cool and i got 7 free rides! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almightyfire Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 What was going on this evening? I dont understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterphotos Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 They've been filming footage for commericals, marketing, etc all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fmulder21 Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Commerical shoot/POV possibly they removed something from the first train, i assume a tripod for camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almightyfire Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Oh ok I would have loved to be in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuruGuys Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Oh ok I would have loved to be in it. Â Hey A.M.F., do you read your private messages? Â Today was a nice day at the park. The film crew worked diligently as far as film crews are concerned and all the riders, even when the public was mixed in, performed great! The staff was, as always, top notch and Heather did a great job organizing the groups and coordinating the event. I had some friends with me and we all bought bands to ride the other rides while they reset camera shots. I still get giggle fits while riding the Boardwalk Bouncer. We all had a blast! Â Kemah Boardwalk still impresses me. It is a top notch park, spectacularly clean, and the employees are down to earth and friendly. Â -GG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuruGuys Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Commerical shoot/POV possibly they removed something from the first train, i assume a tripod for camera. Â They did a couple of POV runs, then they turned the camera around and pointed it at the riders for a few reaction runs as well. Â -GG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texcoaster Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 OK, updated video here:  http://homepage.mac.com/jimwinslett/FileSharing3.html  Click the download arrow next to file "bullet.mov" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almightyfire Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Uh oh, I never check my private messages because I have never gotten one hahahahah. I hate i missed the filming. I will check from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinBrookeTX Posted September 19, 2007 Share Posted September 19, 2007 Nice Video! I really enjoyed watching it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texcoaster Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 Thanks! Â I'm crossing my fingers that some tasty POV footage will fall from cyberspace and land in my hard drive so I can do this coaster justice. Â It's just SOOOOOOO hard to shoot any meaningful off-ride footage after the first drop. Everything else is just a split second of blurry train as it peeks out from the structure. Â Â Â Â Odd: notice how we still call it "footage" even when it's digital? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuruGuys Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 I'm always surprised about how many coaster enthusiasts I've met at Kemah lately, many are from out of town, and a lot are from this forum!  I ran into a couple of coaster enthusiasts there yesterday and got a picture of them coming back from their first ever Bullet ride....  Everyone is always so friendly and these two were no exception! Thanks for another great day at the Boardwalk  -GG Two Coaster Enthusiasts experiencing their first ride on the Bullet (Back Row)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinBrookeTX Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 So what did they think of it Guru? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuruGuys Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 So what did they think of it Guru? Â Did you figure out who they are? Â -G.G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErinBrookeTX Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 So what did they think of it Guru? Â Did you figure out who they are? Â -G.G. Â No. Am I suppose to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuruGuys Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 So what did they think of it Guru?  Did you figure out who they are?  -G.G.  No. Am I suppose to?  I was thinking that someone that reads these forums might know who they are. I've dropped some subtle clues, I'll give it another day to see if someone in this group can figure it out  -GG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texcoaster Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 (waving hand wildly) Â OOO! OOO! PICK ME! PICK ME! Â Kidding. Â If I hadn't been there and been introduced to them, I wouldn't have been able to pick them out of the crowd. I'm not very good at spotting "celebrities". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almightyfire Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Umm I haven't a clue either of who they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Joe Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 The GG guys look happy with how things turned out...looking forward to riding the Bullet later this fall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuruGuys Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 The GG guys look happy with how things turned out...looking forward to riding the Bullet later this fall. Â Yeah, they especially liked the atmosphere when we rode at night. Chad and Michael are really nice and fun to hang out with. They are just like normal coaster enthusiasts. You can run off crazy ideas and they go into "Hrm, we could do that, the speed would have to be X here and X there, etc etc." It was really fun chatting with them and listening to their insights on the industry, etc. Â I would have never noticed them personally had Michael not been wearing a nice shirt with an embroidered Gravity Group logo on it. The only picture I saw of Chad was on the web page (which, rumor has it has been rebuilt and the new version is almost done) when he was bald! I had VERY briefly run into Corey when he was leaving before the Bullet was complete, got to shake hands with him and thats about it. Â -GG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Joe Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I'm quite envious of his fro... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuruGuys Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 I'm quite envious of his fro...  Yes, same here! I asked Chad "I'm going bald, what was your excuse!" heheh  -GG Chad of The Gravity Group (With hair) vs Balding Guru Guy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GuruGuys Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 A few interesting comments were posted on the sixflagshouston.com forum from a credible source. Here are the more interesting comments:  4. There are still some issues ("bugs") that are being addressed, just don't know what and when at this time. There are several factors involved. That's all I can say for now. 5. Yes we did make some adjustment in the brake area that allows the train to come in faster, but we have no control over the mag brakes. A light train will come thru slower and if there are two trains running, the second train will stop on the lift. The guys and I discussed several options to overcome this issue. At this time nothing has been decided on which one to do. (You experts out there, please refrain on telling us on how to fix this. You don't have all the info and we know what ALL the option are.)  6. It is true that the back half is not doing what it is designed to do. Those of you that have had a "rain" ride has experienced what it is to do. Again, these issues are being addressed and will take time.  The conclusion that can be made from this is it should be running like it did when we rode it in the rain on a normal day... I can't imagine would it would do in the rain at that point  If you dig back into the earlier posts in this thread, during the testing phases, it was stated several times from various people that the train should be going at least 15 MPH over the first big hill. Right now it is going about 9MPH tops. This is the same hill that it stalled on in the initial tests. Apparently there are still issues causing it to not reach that speed which really tapers off the back end of the ride. While the poster did not state this, and it might not be the only issue, I think logic easily shows that this is at least one of the things that needs to be overcome.  Like the poster said, I doubt anything will happen overnight, but it looks like some really nice things are to come! At the very least they are aware the Bullet is not running at its potential.  -GG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
restoca Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 ...the train should be going at least 15 MPH over the first big hill. Right now it is going about 9MPH tops. This is the same hill that it stalled on in the initial tests. Apparently there are still issues causing it to not reach that speed...-GG Â I'm ashamed to say that I've only been out there to ride twice since it opened. (I'll use the excuse that the weather and my work schedule have not been very cooperative...) On my few rides (with both full and almost empty trains) I have noticed what I believe to be an excessive amount of shimmy action almost all the way between the bottom of the first drop and the "big hill". Just watching from the station as the train navigates the first bay turn makes me question the gauging of the track in that area. Too wide, and too much lateral banging must certainly eat up a considerable amount of energy. Â I hope that both the contractors and designers look upon this ride as a showcase for their future business (Houston is certainly more easily accessible than Santa Claus or Wisconsin Dells) and will continue any and all refinements until it is operating exactly as intended. Â Thanks to everyone for the regular updates. It's nice to check them when I get home from another sunny day spent on the job... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texcoaster Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 While I can't even begin to be called an expert on coaster track guaging or engineering, I can say that there is quite a lot of shimmy and side-to-side action on the bay turn after the first drop. It navigates the zig-zag beautifully, then crests that ungodly airtime hump, and then all hell breaks loose. The train bounces from rail to rail all the way around that turn and if you're in the back seat, it's pretty scary to watch the folks in the front half of the train (esp rows 1-4) get their heads and necks jerked from side to side. I can bet that a good deal of the potential speed of this ride is lost in that turn. Â The turn just below it (the near-90deg banked one) does really well in the first half, but there are some pumping issues in the second half of the turn, as if it were more of an octogon segment rather than a curve. Â Just after that, there is a speed hill heading toward the parking lot that has a NASTY "pop" in it. It takes everyone by surprise, and it's one of my favorite parts of the ride. I seriously doubt it was intentional, though. The turn immediately following the pop is also octogon-shaped. Â The drop under the station is a mess of compound curves that is beautifully executed. Smooth, fast, and flawless... unfortunately, a lot of speed was already sucked up by the time it gets here. The days when it rained, this part was pretty intense! Â Finally, the last turn before the brake run is getting rougher by the day. I think that if the trains would take it a good deal faster, the problem would solve itself. Â Â It sounds like I'm being critical of the ride, but I'm not. I freaking LOVE this ride, even with its flaws. However, I have been lucky enough to get about 5-6 "rain rides" and about 30 rides right after the tracks were graphited. Those rides pushed the limit of wooden coaster intensity, and were actually SMOOTHER than the slower rides. Â With a few tweaks here and there, I think this coaster will make the top spot on a lot of folks' lists. It's my #2 (of 121 woodies) already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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