Team Thriller Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 I'm glad they are taking the time to create a classic. When ever I read about the old coaster, like at Riverveiw Park, Chicago, I always wish that I could ride them. Kudos to them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCoasterny Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 Darn! You bet I WILL be there come April when Knoebels opens for the 2008 season! By then the Flying Turns will be fine tuned, and running like a well oiled machine. I would rather see Knoebels finish the ride right, and resolve any saftey issues that might arise during testing... It will be fun to see the ride run its paces, sans people at PPP. I was concerned about the transistion between the trough and the side friction track as how the train would guide itself into the side friction track with such an abrupt transistion and nothing to funnel the train into the side friction style track. Keep up the good work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuddyChrist Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Tonight at Phoenix Phall Punfest Flying Turns was doing test runs for the public to see! I didn't get into the station but I did get footage of it going up the lifts and going through a turn. I apologize for the quality! Going up the lifts Flying through a turn I'm sure there will be more photos and footage from others who were in attendance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Axman Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Jesus Christ, this thing STILL isn't open yet? I haven't been following any recent Knoebel's news, but I thought Flying Turns was supposed to open this year! How long does it take to build one of these?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RCoasterny Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 I was there, even in the station. I was one of the first group into the station. Jim Martini gave a short lecture about the Flying turns. They then started two of the 3 lifts. The "test mule" that was shown in the videos was sitting on the first lift. The lifts run more slower than the normal lifts. I don't know if that is its actual speed, or they slowed it down for testing. Finally they started the 1st lift and the short train climbed up and went through the course. One strange thing is that the coaster is very quiet. The only loud thing was the lifts running! There are two operator stations. You have the main one in the loading/unloading station, and there is a second one at the end of the long brake run before the 3rd lift. I got videos of the ride, I will edit them and post them here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kraken613 Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Wow! I never thought this day would come! 500th post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbilly Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 well it's exciting that they are at least testing this thing, so 2008 it's gauranteed it'll be open and ready for guests, I'd rather them take a long time to build it right and operational then quick and have many problems with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRapidsNerd Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Read some of the history on these kinds of rides recently. This is really really cool that they're recreating this ride. Since Avalanche at KD was pretty fun, this looks good too. If all goes well, maybe this will start a new trend of modern engineering revisiting classic park rides. Either way, it's a turn for the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 For the record, Dick Knoebel said that the cars would only have seatbelts. So that answers that question. They were only testing two chassis with 1.5 bodies on them. I didn't ask if all 5 chassis had been tested as a train yet, or whether this was the final body design (although it was obviously more refined than the prototype seen earlier this summer.) It's amazingly quiet and smooth in the trough. It's loud and shaky on the straight track, even though it's going slow there, so hopefully they're still working on that. Yesterday I saw lots of filing and sanding going on on the lift hills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted October 7, 2007 Share Posted October 7, 2007 Jesus Christ, this thing STILL isn't open yet? I haven't been following any recent Knoebel's news, but I thought Flying Turns was supposed to open this year! How long does it take to build one of these?!?! There are a number of reasons for the delay. 1) This is a lost type of ride. The inventor of the Flying Turns, John Bartlett, died long ago. So they can't consult him. They have to figure things out on their own as they go. 2) The previous Flying Turns rides were notorious for being maintenance headaches, and the safety rules are much more stringent today. So, in a sense, this ride has never been built before because they want to built it to last and following much stricter safety guidelines. 3) Knoebels is building this ride as time allows while they are running a decent sized amusement park. John Fetterman is not a full time coaster design and construction engineer. His primary job is maintenance. If the flyers break he is going to work on that, not on construction of a new ride. 4) Building slowly is cheaper. You don't have to pay for rush shipping on materials. And you tend to make less mistakes, which means you don't have to waste materials and labor costs tearing out sections that you messed up because you were rushing. I think this is going to be an awesome ride whenever they get it open to the public. And well worth the wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Looking sweet, there. In the vid. Thanks for posting it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Here's the latest revision of the car body. It's still probably not final, but it's a lot more finished than the previous one: And here's Dick Knoebel showing off how it fits: They weren't letting people sign anything this year, but if you signed last year your name was on display: Also on display was a plaque from opening day this year: I shot some video of one of the test runs. Today I checked the time it took for the car to go from the start of the main section of trough to the start of the brake run. It was only 25 seconds. It's going to be a very strange 25 seconds, but I still wish it was a little longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ccron10 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I feel that this is going to be a very unique ride when it opens. Between the historic value, the wall with all the people who signed it, the design, layout and cars, the time is well worth it. I guess it is a good thing that I'll be heading to the park next year! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgb60 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I didn't get to see any of the testing, but I was up on the platform later in the evening. (BTW, the station is beautiful. I was told it was Dick's idea to use the metal arches.) There were only a few people there, so I got to ask the crew a lot of questions. They are still not totally satisfied with the cars. The framework around the back and sides will prevent people from reaching out to the sides, while still allowing them to hold their arms up. There is concern that people might hold onto the sides of the cars where you enter and exit, which could be a safety issue in the side friction sections of the track. But they don't want to make it too high to make access more difficult. One of the crew members told me they haven't tested a full train yet. They're hoping that once all the cars are in place, the train will be more stable and follow in a line. Apparently, when they were testing with two cars, each car individually "fishtails" through the turns. They told me that the lift hills are actually going to use water instead of oil to lubricate the chains. That's to prevent oil from getting into the trough sections of the ride. The roof over the section of the queue that passes below the track is to keep water from dripping on people in line. Because the trains are so quiet and because of the obvious lack of visibility, there will be several cameras placed along the course so ops know where the trains are. They are confident they will be able to keep 3 trains running continuously. That's some fast dispatch time, but if anyone can do it, a Knoebels crew can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 I've never been to Knoebels, but this ride will get me there. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterFanatic Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 so 2008 it's gauranteed it'll be open and ready for guests When it comes to this ride ... nothing is guaranteed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ccron10 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 2/26/08) Screamscape sources tell us that Knoebels may have had another setback with the Flying Turns coaster. Seems more problems with the trains have come up and we shouldn’t expect to see it open until maybe the end of the summer. And the award goes to Knoebels for the longest amount of time to build a coaster! I understand that it's an old style of ride that hasn't been built in the last 40 years, but they could've at least have done something to speed up construction. It's going to be around 3 years old when it finally opens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kraken613 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I just saw that and laughed! I dont know if this thing will ever open! Its not taking them long enough right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebl Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 ^ The delay is frustrating, but I'd rather have Knoebels work out the bugs now and make sure everything's a go instead of opening what people may write off as a "POS." Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeemerBoy Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 ^ I hear what you're saying. But something inside me says I'd almost rather it be open (on what may be my only visit), bugs or not, and at least give me the chance to consider it a POS or not. I've been patient up 'til now.....now that I know I'll be visiting in a few months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayjay719 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 I hope they have it open in time for my second visit this summer. Last year was my first time there and we had a blast. I hope Flying Turns is as good as it looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginzo Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Lame!!! I was planning on hitting Knoebels on Memorial Day weekend. Guess that's probably not going to happen now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpengeist04 Posted February 26, 2008 Share Posted February 26, 2008 Wow, yet another delay. I just hope when this coaster does open it will be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FeelTheFORCE Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Well, I was thinking about going there this summer for it, but I guess not now. If I did go at all, it'd be in June. It's a shame that it keeps getting delayed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim S. Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 I've really been looking forward to the Flying Turns, but at $2.50 for a ride that's 25 seconds from the second lift to the main brakes, I doubt I'll ride it too often when it does open I wonder what the problem is now? The last I heard, they had torn out a section of trough where it switches back to side-friction track because the guide rails they put in weren't making the train turn smoothly enough, but I don't know how side-friction track is supposed to solve that problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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