G-Forces

[verticalzero]

Has anyone blacked-out due to the G-forces of any coaster, When I rode Oblivion I saw different colours when I came out the station

[CoasterFanatic]

^ Suck it up. It's all part of the experience.

 

Seriously, the G-Forces on most coasters are so brief that they barely have any effect on the human body. Personally, I am very sensitive to g-force. Catrina always give me a bunch of crap when i make funny faces through the loops on Laser and the Helix of Doom on Goliath.

[CoasterCrazy]

I have never blacked-out on any thrill ride or roller coaster!

[it]

S:KC's loop makes my ears pop.

[phazan]

^ how does it make your ears pop?!?

i think it takes something like 9 gs to actually black out. roller coasters go no where near that. however, i have been on coasters that give me wierd effects where i cant see anything around me. i guess some of you can call that tunnel vision? bye the way, high g effects are fun! 8)

[Angry_Gumball]

I've never blacked out or come close to it on any coaster, including Goliath's "helix of doom." My friend, however, did on Top Gun at PGA. He remembers going down the first drop and then getting off of the ride assisted by his brother.

[viking86]

i think it takes something like 9 gs to actually black out

 

I saw a program on TV where they were training pilots in one of those centrifuge things, and one guy blacked out on 2G's. Lets just say that he didnt become a pilot. Most of them blacked out between 4 and 10G's, but one girl managed 12G's without blacking out.

[tracy]

I watched my daughter "black out" on Alpengeist. Coming out of the cobra roll, I saw her chin fall down on her chest; I shook her at the MCB, but she just moaned; the first barrel roll slapped hear head against the restraint and she came around. Afterwards, she thought it was cool, but wasn't ready to ride anything for a very long time.

 

I myself had trouble walking after that ride, because my feet and lower legs hurt so bad. My wife and son were dizzy also. It was our 5th lap in about an hour and it seemed like it was much faster than the first 4. It was also a very hot day and we were all pretty dehydrated. After we "recovered" we spent a lot of time on Appolo's Chariot with no problems. We went back to Alpie that evening but it seemed to suck the life out of us.

 

I later did some research and found that dehydration is the single most contributing factor. I've also heard that the effects of G's are additive.

 

I've never experienced Goliaths "helix of doom", but I understand that Titan's mid course helix is much worse. I met a "live-to-ride" dude that told me that a few turns on Titan kept him home the next day and Goliath didn't bother him. Maybe Rob or Elissa can make a comparison.

[kenshinmac]

Oh man... Titan has the honor of being the only coaster I have been on so far where I was seriously uncomfortable with the amount of G's put on me... That upwards helix before the brake run was seriously uncomfortable for me. I had no real drive to go on the ride again.

 

That said however I did get tunnel vision on Top Gun at PGA on a 103F day. It was a hell of a thing. That little helix over the water I believe and I just saw the edges of my vision getting blurry and then going black. Needless to say my friends and I took a small break after that ride. The worst mistake that day was going on the revolution... First time I went on that ride and every time we went over I honestly felt I was going to pass out. I can't tell you how happy I was when it started to slow down.

[Real]

First, a few things about G's.

 

The human body can sustain monster G-Forces in small quantities. If you were to jump up in the air and then plop down on say, a sofa or a bean bag (lol) you would feel something over 20G's. (Im taking this from a medical study)

 

What about a car crash? I ended up running head on into a guard rail at 50mph (to avoid smashing someone else, all worked out ok) and after I had someone do some math, we figured I pulled in the area of 50G's.

 

The difference in those 2 is that the first one is positive G's the other is acceleration G's. Acceleration G's push against your chest from in front or behind you. Regular G's push from under or above you.

 

The body can handle way more Acceleration G's than it can positive G's. Most people start to grey or black out between 4-7 regular G's. However, that number is a bit higher for Acceleration. Maybe 5-9.

 

 

 

Where this all gets interesting is the time its held. When the pilots do the centrifuge, remember, by the time they get to 4-5 G's they already have held 2, 3 and 4 for almost a minute or 2. Most coasters only hold 4-5 G's for between 2-4 seconds.

 

To my knowledge the Helix of Death there on Goliath could be the longest duration of high G's on a coaster and its only like 4 seconds long. 4 seconds is a long time but its a far cry from any flight training.

 

 

 

So remember, next time you black its usualy not from high G's, but from g's being held for a long time. The human body can handle high doses of G's (safely I might add) if it only lasts a second or shorter. Once you start to hold those for 2, 3, 4 or 5 seconds you keep blood from getting to places it should and thats when you lose color and then sight alltogether.

 

 

 

As for me, I have never blacked out, greyed out or even gotten tunnel vision. I have gone as far as held my breath for half a ride before an intense part to see if I could start to get tunnel vision. I havent found anything yet that will do it.

But I shouldnt complain. That only means that I have a very strong heart that can handle higher pressures. Wont find me complaining.

[nannerdw]

I have grayed out on 2 rides.

 

When I was at Dollywood, I rode the Tennessee Tornado twice. Both times my vision flashed in and out in the middle of the iron butterfly. At the time I had no idea what had happened. I rode it again to make sure that I was not just holding my breath through that part, and I grayed out again.

 

The second ride I grayed out on was Face/OFF @ PKI. The first time through, my vision got a little bit blurry right before the vertical loop. Going through the second time, my vision closed in almost entirely. I closed my eyes, because I didn't even want to know if I had blacked out completely. My sister was sitting across from me, and she said that my head was getting tossed around a lot more the second time through. I was feeling really tired from dehydration before I even got on the ride, which probalby contributed to it more than the g forces.

 

I'm going to SFOG in a week, and I really hope I can ride Mindbender without any problems. I rode it once before, and I was fine.

[tracy]

It's my understanding that the difference between Titan and Goliath is the helix before the mcb on Titan. It not only feels stronger than the second it lasts at least 6 seconds. It's uncomfortable alraight, being squished in your seat, but it doesn't match the feeling of having all your blood slung out to your feet on a big invert.

[Real]

The G's are distributed the same on any sitdown ride - Invert or not.

 

I however have felt that without a floor to press your feet on, you become more suspectable to G's. Most fighter pilots in training are taught to "tense" up during High G tricks and turns. To do this they tighten up their muscles in their abs and legs and also try to push their feet through the floor. What this does is lock blood in the lower part of the body and keeps blood in the upper in the upper where it needs to be.

 

Without a floor for your feet you can only tense up your muscles to help prevent that. Some people disagree but I still think with your feet on the floor that most people tense up and push their feet down in an automatic reaction, hence why some people cant handle Inverts as well as sitdowns.

[coasters 4 me]

I've never blacked out. But some rides are pretty high G-Forces, aparently there was one in japan that had more than 6G's.

There is a ride at the old town, it spins up-side-down. Its a big pole that spins. You sit at each end. The G's on it are pretty big.

[Real]

^ The ride you talk about is gone now. It was called the Moonsault Scramble and pulled 6.5 G's.

[Angry_Gumball]

In a Popular Science magazine a few years ago, they featured an article on coaster safety. They went into G forces and how much we can handle. Yes, plopping on your sofa or beanbag would push a small burst of 20 g's on you, and a sneeze would apply 10 g's. Jumping off a few steps did about 20 I think as well.

[benzo41190]

When I was 12 i rode Millenium Force and the first drop made me see a couple black spots but the was it. Now G's arent really a problem anymore but my ribs very bad. I was on a Gravatron and my ribs hurt so bad. Then last week I went on Raging Bull and on the first drop i started to not be able to breath and my ribs hurt. I talked to my docter about it and he saided that it was because of my chest. I have a indent in it and it pushes on the lungs during high G's. So now I have to watch what I go on and where I sit.

[MagnumForce]

Third loop on Shockwave always made my vision a bit fuzzy around the edges, Raptor's helix has done it a few times while I was a bit dehydrated, the worst is the Pretzel loop on the S:UF's, all three of them do a number on me because you go from such strong positive g's to negative g's so quickly.

[Real]

Actually, the pretzel loop has neither true positive or negative G's.

 

That entire ride is actually on Accleration G's.

 

 

 

Imagine it: You are laying on your back in the bottom of the pretzel with like 3-4 g's pushing on your chest. If you were sitting up, they would be pressing on your head, not chest.

 

The G's applied on S:UF are the same applied on a launch coasters launch. The G's are applied to your chest from that direction. Its my understanding that the body can handle more Acceleration than it can regular G's but theres a catch. When you are sitting down the G's push down on your head from above. The first thing this does is cause blood from your head to move down out of your brain and lower in the body. Once your eyes lose enough blood thats when you grey out, then black out. Some people experience harder breathing but in general, its not bad.

 

Now, for acceleration G's, the G's are applied to your chest. This pushes blood back in your body. Not down. This means that you can still lose blood and grey out and such, but its a bit harder.

 

What does hurt you in acceleration G's are the effects on your breathing. Ever had someone larger than you sit on your chest? Yea, its the same idea. The g's compress your lungs making it far harder to breathe. This in turn means you arent churning out oxygenated blood like you used too. So while the blood isnt pouring out of your head like I said above, its also not getting the oxygen it needs.

 

 

 

This isnt science, most of this is just me using basic medical stuff and smashing it together with what I know G's do to our bodies. Feel free to add or subtract from it.

[MagnumForce]

They are still g's, and they still do a number on me as they change from being so strong at the bottom, to less then 1 g at the top.

 

What you are saying is obvious, but they are still g's.

[tracy]

If you want partial credit, you must show your work.

[Real]

^^I wasnt trying to say they arent G's, thats for sure. Ive ridden 2 of the 3 here in the states (whoop dee doo) and it is incredibly intense. One of the most intense feelings Ive ever felt on a coaster. So you are right.

 

I was just trying to describe what it does to your body, thats all.

[shepp]

I've only ridden S: UF once, but I couldn't see what all the pretzel loop fuss was about. On Goliath, in contrast, I experience serious Gs, but I find the experience positive because the release from the helix is...I don't know, elating? On other helices, I just end up wondering "Who, exactly, finds this element pleasurable, and why?" though I think my body's learned not to fight positive Gs, which makes them easier to take. But for sheer sustained G weirdness, I'd have to nominate Mission: Space.

[coasters 4 me]

^ Yeah. Those G's on Mission Space are insane. They last ages. I really like the idea of Mission Space. They really make you part of it by giving you a position.