A Classic Ride opens at Knoebels

[RCoasterny]

It's offical. The Herschell Looper is now open at Knoebels on the former Whirlwind site. It's the original design that the Chance Rok N' Rol was derived from. The Herschell version is the one that has a foot pedal that engages a clutch to allow you to rock or flip the cage over.

 

RC!

[CoasterFanatic]

Still ... nobody believes me.

[QuakerOaties]

I remember seeing one on a show about Whalom park a couple years back and ever since then I've wanted to ride one. Maybe its time I make a visit to Knoebels.

 

Mark "Its only 2 1/2 hours away but I have yet to go there this season!" Luskus

[robbalvey]

Are you talking about this ride:

 

 

They are all over Japan. We saw at least 5 or 6 of them during our travels there.

 

And I'm damn sure I've seen one recently in a US park, perhaps on one of those small parks we did in that Chicago run? I didn't pay attention, but I remember thinking recently "Hey, that's one of those things we saw in Japan!"

 

--Robb

[CoasterFanatic]

^ That would be the Chance Rock-N-Roll. There is a pretty good difference between the Herschell Looper and those rides.

 

The Herschell Looper has a clutch on the floor that helps regulate the spin of the car. This allows you to do all kinds of cool things not possible with the Chance version.

 

Also, great care has been put into restoring this ride, so you can count on the fact that it will run better than any other has in years.

[benzo41190]

i have always wanted to go on one of these. What i want to know is........if there is one person on it can you flip it all the way around. They look so cool 8).

[Meteornotes]

Wow, considering this thing was in pieces when I visited about two weeks ago, I'm amazed they got it open this year. Maybe I'll ride during PPP...

 

dt

[DenDen]

I was lucky to ride one of these at a carnival back in the 80's. (The Herschell model.) They are much more fun than the Chance model just for the fact that you control the flipping action.

[RCoasterny]

Someone has actually posted a link that takes you to a geocities site that shows the completed ride. It has alternating blue and orange cages, and the only lighting I could see were those funky retro sonce style lights around the perimeter of the ride. I saw the link over at *gag* RRC, and I can't access google groups at work to put the link up for your veiwing pleasure.

 

Edit:I forgot I had a Web enabled pager so I was able to access Google Groups there and get the linkage. Here it is!

http://www.geocities.com/l_a_d_0201/Knoebels.html

 

There's two threads running on the ride itself, one with the linkage to the pictures, and another one from Sandy N. giving a report on the ride itself, giving a few pointers how to get the most out of it, and even giving a hint of a challenge to enthusiasts that you can get the cage to do sucessive flips backwards.

Edited September 6, 2005 by RCoasterny

[Canobie Fan]

I use to ride Whaloms all the time back when it was open. You could get 16-17 flips in a row if you use the pump bar and know how to work it :o

[Sir Clinksalot]

Sweet, can't wait to ride this in about 2 weeks.

[Mind Eraser]

This ride makes me feel like a retarded hamster.

[RCoasterny]

Here's the report taken from rec.roller-coaster as told by Sandy N.:

 

I met up with Dick and Barbara at The Wharf lunchtime Friday. Dick

said the Looper would be running Saturday. Early Saturday morning I

strolled down to the Looper to see how things were coming along. John

Fetterman explained that the clutch mechanism in each cage needs to be

adjusted just right so that the clutch doesn't drag, yet be able to

engage thoroughly to spin the cage when the rider desires. The

restraints also needed to be shimmed so that the clamp style seat belt

lock would hold a rider in securely.

 

The final tuning of the ride took most of the day, but I can

understand why they wanted to get it right the first time.

 

At 7 PM they put employees on the ride to test it. Apparently very

few of Knoebels employees are ride fans, but enough of them showed up

to fill all 10 cages. Then the ride started. This was just too

funny. All kinds of screams and laughter! Amazing how such a simple

ride can evoke so many different responses.

 

The Looper opened for the public at 7:40 PM. There were more people

as spectators than riders. The line was never more than 3 cycles

wait. Even I have to admit the ride looks ominous, but in reality it

is a ride that delivers so much fun that you forget that you are

spinning totally out of control.

 

The design is pretty simple. Two riders face each other. There is a

clutch pedal that either rider can engage. There is a wide and comfy

seat belt to hold you into thickly padded seats.

 

The Looper requires rider interaction, and this is a good thing (like

the Flyer).

 

Grandparent mode: Simply sit there as your cage rides around the

track at 6 RPM.

 

Fat ACEr mode: The two riders alternate moving their upper torsos

back and forth to rock the cage, then engage the clutch to heave all

of that weight over the point where the cage will continue spinning

clockwise (as viewed from the outside of the ride). Note that even

this mode requires timing and getting the "rhythm" of the periodic

motion just as with the Flyer's pendulum effect.

 

The Todd Long I Fly Backwards Mode: In the case of the Looper, this

is the most difficult move. My buddy Ian from Ipswitch U.K. showed me

how to do this. Forget the clutch. The clutch only helps you spin

clockwise anyway. The two riders work the cage back and forth very

closely approaching the point of doing a full rotation. If you time

this just right, you can get your cage to rotate counter-clockwise

(i.e. backwards) and precise timing of moving your bodies can actually

accelerate your cage to the point where, not only are you spinning

backwards, but your RPMs are far faster than the ride could deliver

with the clutch engaged in the opposite direction.

 

Ian and I managed to get 45 rotations backwards in a row, pretty much

most of the duration of the ride cycle. It took 17 times trying, but

we did it. I think we should make this a challenge for Phun Phest.

 

A big thanks to John Fetterman for taking the time explaining the

workings of the Looper. John even has some interesting stories about

where he got parts for the restoration of this ride, but I'll let him

offer the details himself as the story is typical Knoebels

engineering, and that's a GOOD thing.

 

- Sandy

 

[MF310ryb]

I loved the Chance Rock N Roll when I was younger. Sea Side Heights NJ used to have one on Casino Pier in the early 90's. I have not been on once since glad to see they are still around.

[socalMAN123]

This ride looks like fun! It's like a powered Chance Rock-N-Roll right? Anyways, I really need to get out to Knobel's for some wood coaster and flyer goodness.

---Brent 8)

[RCoasterny]

I would like to point out the difference between the Chance Rok N' Rol and the Herschell Looper.

 

On the Chance Model, there is a mechanism that the operator controls to get the tub to flip over. You could get it to rock but the operator controlled mechanism can interfere with your rythmn. If you look at this picture, ( http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index/ChanceRockNRoll2.jpg ) you can see that each tub is supported by the sweep. Below each sweep is a black bar. This bar is attached to the hub of each cage and the other end is a tire that engages with some kind of rail causing the tire to spin and in turn, rotating the cage.

 

On the Herschell model, each cage is supported by a large wheel that is the size of the the cage itself and is mounted behind the cage. The wheel rolls on a track and there is a sweep that simply guides the cage/wheel assembly and keeps it upright. The wheel and the cage rotate independently from each other. In the cage is a foot pedal that engages a clutch which locks the wheel and the cage together allowing the cage to rotate with the wheel. The rider has a choice to when to engage and disengage the clutch for a very interesting ride.