Which Coaster Gives The Best AIRTIME???

[Moose]

Prowler does have a lot of nice airtime. It's not the best but it sure is fun. Meow.

[Schotcher]

Haven't been on many coasters but:

 

Floater air:

 

1. Nitro

2. Apollo's Chariot

3. Griffon

 

Ejector:

 

1. Bizarro

2. El Toro

3. Yankee Cannonball (For such a small coaster in the back it has crazy air)

[SuperBuckalew]

Prowler does have a lot of nice airtime. It's not the best but it sure is fun. Meow.

 

It's the quadruple down at the end of the ride that gets me. Especially on a hot summer night in the back left seat.

[_koppen]

Balder and Piraten is pretty much "untouchable" on my list.

Have not ridden Twister yet, but I don't think it will change anything.

[Kafka]

I havent been on too many coasters, so my selection is rather limited

Wood

-Voyage- even though last time i rode it, it was far too painful to notice

-The boss, This ride has a lot of airtime in the back

 

Steel

-Millennium Force

- Diamondback

- Magnum xL 200

-Mr. Freeze, The spike from the front row...wow.

-Mamba- Front row doesnt have too much airtime, but from the back this ride is really quite nice

[SuperBuckalew]

I havent been on too many coasters, so my selection is rather limited

Wood

-Voyage- even though last time i rode it, it was far too painful to notice

-The boss, This ride has a lot of airtime in the back

 

Steel

-Millennium Force

- Diamondback

- Magnum xL 200

-Mr. Freeze, The spike from the front row...wow.

-Mamba- Front row doesnt have too much airtime, but from the back this ride is really quite nice

 

Mamba's second hill in the front has incredible airtime. The back has good airtime everywhere else, except those bunny hills, darn mid course brake run.

[milst1]

This is actually tough. Phoenix, El Toro, and T Express are amazing, but some GCI woodies like Kentucky Rumbler also pack some pop. I think I counted 12 pops on KR. Ravine Flyer II is great too. For single moments of airtime, I like the Kennywood Jackrabbit and I seem to remember a crazy pop on Skyliner at Lakemont.

 

For steel, I really like the Intamin mega-lites (why in the world haven't they built one in USA yet???) Kawasemi and Piraten. They are air machines. Also really love Steel Eel at Sea World San Antonio (my fave of the Morgan hypers with a nod to Mamba) and Phantom's Revenge. And duh, almost forgot Nitro!

[gisco]

For me it would be Kawasemi for steel and T-Express for wood. I know there are a lot of great coasters back East that I haven't ridden yet. Like Martin said, Why aren't there any Mega-lites here in the USA?

Edited October 15, 2011 by gisco

[TXthrills2010]

haha i know this is alittle dorky but, Shockwave at Six Flags over Texas (on the backseat). Gwazi too! Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.

[Moose]

No more dorky than the rest of us. Shockeave definitely has some fun airtime. Though I think NTaG might have it beat now.

[chadster]

Air Grover was insane in the "Air" time department today. Just sayin.

[osm]

Steel-

 

Floater: Behemoth- seems like you're floating more than you're in your seat.

Nitro- same feeling, but not quite as strong.

Ejector: Bizarro- every hill is packed with awesomeness.

Magnum XL-200- with the lapbar being as loose as it is, the return trip is completely insane.

Maverick- first drop in the back seat is possibly my favorite element on any coaster, first bunny hop is awesome as well.

 

Wood-

 

Ejector: El Toro- duh.

Cyclone (SFNE)- one ridiculous moment of air on the first drop in the back, some other nice moments too.

Thunderbolt (SFNE)- has these great pops of surprising air throughout the ride, it's almost like bouncing at some points.

 

These are just the coasters I've ridden, there are still a lot of airtime machines I desperately want to try (I see you Phoenix!).

[krazekiddd]

No more dorky than the rest of us. Shockeave definitely has some fun airtime. Though I think NTaG might have it beat now.

 

I couldn't remember which one I liked the best until you reminded me on NTaG! I was proud of all the bruises on my thighs after that!

[-Edge of Beast-]

Steel:

 

Mamba at Worlds of Fun (floater)

 

 

Wooden:

 

Timber Wolf at Worlds of Fun (ejector)

 

 

Wow. Both are from Worlds of Fun, haha.

[cal1br3tto]

Magnum XL-200- with the lapbar being as loose as it is, the return trip is completely insane.

Magnum always auto-staples me, unfortunately. I'm not a particular fan of its airtime, although I will agree that the back run is pretty lively. I actually prefer the restraints on Morgan and Giovanola hypers!

 

Rides I love even when near-stapled: NTag, El Toro

Rides I don't especially care for due to stapling or near-stapling: Bizarro, Magnum

 

Odd how rides with similar airtime (and restraints, somewhat) can produce such varied opinions in me.

[GigaG]

Sorry for going off-topic, but what is NTag?

[Nozzy]

^NTAG is the abbreviation for New Texas Giant. Don't ask what the A stands for.

 

I think best airtime goes to El Toro at Great Adventure. You literally fly over the first few hills, and the crossover is ridiculous.

Other great contenders are Voyage (so bruised afterward), Shockwave in Texas, and though GeForce did not impress me as much as I hoped it would (it was a rough day), it did have amazing air.

 

Back row of Intimidator 305 can be pretty nice too, especially the first drop.

[GigaG]

^OK, what does the A stand for?

 

Is it Airtime?

 

I really like the ejector air at the top of the hills on Maverick.

[dippindotsguy8]

^OK, what does the A stand for?

 

Is it Airtime?

 

 

It might as well stand for that, because that ride is all about Airtime. However I think it's just there because it's much easier to pronounce "NTAG" than to pronounce it without the A

[Schrecken]

Coasters with heavy-duty slam against the lap bar airtime for me would include El Toro, Phantom's Revenge, Magnum (though that last one can be a bit painful depending on where you sit), the double-down on Jackrabbit (also one of the most unexpected moments of airtime, as one time I rode it with a friend and neither one of us was expecting it and she whacked her elbow really hard on the side of the seat and she said that it ached the rest of the day) and also on Phoenix, especially after it had rained late in the afternoon and it was really running fast. I recall Ghostrider as having some killer backseat airtime on the third drop, but it has been more than a decade since I rode it so I don't know if it's any good now or not.

 

Other coasters that give a more gentle and sustained airtime would include (whole coasters and ones where just certain parts have such airtime) Goliath at SFMM (the drop and camelback), SROS at SFA (though some places on that coaster could qualify for ejector-level airtime), Voyage (the triple-down especially), Millennium Force, Wild One at SFA (though it had quite a bit more air before it was re-profiled years ago, especially right before the turn around) and most of the B&M hypers I've been on have some good air, like Apollo's Chariot, Intimidator at Carowinds, Nitro, Goliath at SFOG, etc.

[Moose]

^Do you prefer the slam into the lap bar or gentle? I prefer more sustained, somewhat gentle over being thrown into the restraint.

[Jew]

Dodonpa has the single most intense moment of ejector airtime I have ever experienced. T-express, El Toro, and the Megalites all come a close second. God bless Intamin!

[cal1br3tto]

I generally enjoy all forms of airtime. I'm often not a fan of extreme ejector against a tight lapbar, but give me any amount of free space and I'll relish the feeling, even if I'm getting bounced around violently. But I also love the strong yet reasonably pain-free pulls on Intamins like Maverick and Storm Runner, and gentler sustained air as found on the Giovanola hypers. However, the air on hypers like Nitro and La Ronde's Goliath feels good, but almost mundane.

[David H]

I'm with you, Laura.

 

I enjoy all forms of airtime, but absolutely prefer extreme, ejector airtime. In fact, I tend to prefer more extreme forces on coasters in general. But for some reason, when I'm stapled in, ejector airtime hurts my thighs a lot more than it does when I have room to move. It seems counter-intuitive, since you'd think that being slammed into a lapbar would hurt more. But For some reason, I don't fully understand, it always hurts more when I don't have room to move. Perhaps it's something to do with the ride trying too hard to push me in that direction, but the restraint not letting me go, so the force goes into crushing me against the bar, rather than just stopping me when I hit it when the bar is looser?

 

As for the question of the thread, I guess the answer will very much depend on how you define "best airtime". Are we talking about the most extreme moment of airtime? Do you prefer floater or ejector? Are we talking about one long floater (or ejector) or lots of pops of it? The most moments of air on one coaster, no matter how forceful? Each of us has our preferences, which will cause us to define "best airtime" differently.

 

For best single moment of extreme ejector airtime, there are a handful of contenders for me, in no particular order:

-- Kennywood's Jack Rabbit double down

-- Expedition GeForce's twisting first drop

-- Hypersonic and Dodonpa, in the obvious places

-- Cyclops' last drop

-- Raven's 4th (or is it fifth?) drop, before they somewhat tamed it down

-- El Toro's mid-course airtime hill, as the whole ride goes into overdrive

-- about 2/3 of the hills on New Texas Giant

 

As for airtime machines that give a ton of airtime all over the ride, though most of it is floater air:

-- Balder

-- Phoenix (though a lot of those drops are close to -- but not quite -- ejector when Phoenix is running at its best)

-- several of the B&M hypers

 

For coasters that give a great mix of more sustained moments of ejector airtime, plus a lot of pops of air as well:

-- Tremors

-- Boulder Dash

-- Superman ROS at SFA and Ride of Steel at Darien Lake

-- Magnum XL-200 (especially in row 3)

-- Coney Cyclone when it's been maintained well

-- Aska (SBNO -- sob!)

-- Rampage

-- Megafobia

-- Expedition GeForce

-- Playland/PNE's Coaster

 

For coasters that give sustained ejector airtime all over the course:

-- Shivering Timbers (the first highly acclaimed airtime machine of the internet era)

-- El Toro (though there aren't as many spots of airtime as on others on this list, but they're all pretty ejector)

-- SFNE's Bizarro, the fairly indisputed steel airtime king, until NTaG came alone

-- Voyage, although it's doesn't have any signature moment of air and is always doing so much else that you don't always notice the air. But if you actually measured the amount of air across the ride (in seconds, numbers of moments, and in numbers of G's), I'm pretty sure it would beat any other woodie out there.

 

But for the most extreme non-stop airtime machine of hill after hill of extreme ejector air, any one hill of which could make the first category on its own, nothing can compare to New Texas Giant. After 2 hours of ERT on it in June, my thighs were sore for literally days afterwards! Luckily for the park, few riders get that many rides in one day, or they might have a lot of complaints on their hands.

 

In many ways, New Texas Giant is a lot like Voyage in that I doubt that they'll ever build anything that extreme again. Enjoy it while you can! I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it braked or reprofiled in the future, though I'd certainly be disappointed!

[osm]

^I believe that The Voyage has been measured as having 24.2 seconds of airtime, which is the most of any coaster measured in the world. Though I'm sure it varies depending on how it's running, and that's also a tough statistic to get exactly right.