launched coasters

I've been looking up various parks, and I have noticed that all of the "shuttle loop" coasters have been closed. Have new rules and regs been passed, or what has happened with them?

While a few are gone, there are still several of these in operation: Greezed Lightnin at SFAW, Greased Lightnin at PGA, Diamond Back at Frontier City, Montezooma's Revenge at KBF just to name a few. Not sure what you're getting at.

I've just noticed that a lot have closed also...

The Schwarzkopfs, from what I understand, are getting harder to get replacement parts for, and since they're a bit older, the downtime and repair expense are increasing relative to their drawing power. Bummer, since they really are great rides. These are my opinions, not hard facts, but it seems to make sense...anyone else?

Parts for Schwarzkopf rides are still available from his son, Wieland. He does not maintain a warehouse facility in North America,so obtaining parts from Germany can get a bit time consuming. Plus, some are not stocked full time, and have to be made on order. Down time is lost revenue,something to be avoided if at all possible. Now some would say, why doesn't the parks keep a large stock of parts on hand. Well, in some states, and some cities, they tax your parts inventory. So you can see why in that situation why it's better for them to make a phone call and have a part overnighted.

The reason for Viper's removal (SFOG) was because so many moving parts simply makes for a lot wear. Parks (especially the bigger ones) can machine most replacement parts, but after a while it becomes futile. Rides like these while fun, have seen ebtter days. Ride them while you can.

If a park makes it's own parts it needs to be extremely careful to be certain that the parts meet all of the manufacturer's original specifications. One fatal roll back was due to locally made chain dogs and antiroll back dogs cut from the wrong type of steel.

The other factor of course is marketing and public demand. An old shuttle looper isn't much of a marketing draw any more and is also a low capacity ride.