Look how far we've come

I was just going through some old books this morning and I came across a 1996 copy of the Guiness book or records. Just for fun I checked out the coaster section and saw the record holder for tallest coaster was Desparado at 205ft. Isn't it amazing that we've more than doubled that in 7 yrs? Oh it also said that Dragon Khan had the record for most inversions at 8. Is this still the world record for inversions?

Yes we have come a long way! But, that stat is incorrect for Desperado, It's around 225 I think (probably a typo)

The current record for inversions is 10: Colossus at Thorpe Park.
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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

Sorry, I did recheck it and the lift height is 209 ft and the DROP is 225ft. Of course 16ft of it is underground.

Both Desparado and Steel Phantom had 225ft drops.

Now look at Wood, Previous record. Rattler that was so butchered the drop was reduced to 155ft. SOB 214ft drop and it has been clocked over 80mph.

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Charles Nungester.
Confirmed, Lesourdsville Lake opening for 2003 details soon at Lesourdsville.com

Hmm, if i haven't made an error converting imperial to metric, that is impossible. If there would be no resistance from air or the coaster itself, something falling from 214 ft could get to the speed of about 80.5 mph. A coaster train couldn't get near these number.

Edit: Oops, forgot about the Lift-Speed. This could bring the speed to about 80mph. :)
*** This post was edited by Fusion 2/7/2003 1:08:24 PM ***

He didn't say where it was clocked. However I tend to lean towards it maybe, at most, being clocked at 78mph.
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SWOOSH
MIG-The Midwest Information Guide mig.sfne.com

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Fusion said:

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Charles Nungester said:

SOB 214ft drop and it has been clocked over 80mph.

Hmm, if i haven't made an error converting imperial to metric, that is impossible. If there would be no resistance from air or the coaster itself, something falling from 214 ft could get to the speed of about 80.5 mph. A coaster train couldn't get near these number.

Well the design speed is 78.6mph. The cars are heavier than frist anticipated, It has a rolling start at the drop of about 5-7mph. Re-do your calculations. :)

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Charles Nungester.
Confirmed, Lesourdsville Lake opening for 2003 details soon at Lesourdsville.com

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I have a 1988 Guisness Book of World Records, and it says American Eagle at Marriots Great America is the fastest, and Moonsault Scramble is the tallest. It also amazes me how far coaster designers have come.

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Emerging from the ashes of Eric 013...

There is not much to redo ;) When leaving out the air-resistance again, the speed is just about 5-7 mph higher (in freefall). So it could reach about 85-87 mph in perfect conditions, which would make a speed a bit over 80mph possible in good conditions. :)

Yes to answer your question, the record for inversions is still held by Dragon Khan. Several coasters (most notably floorlesses with their big swooping inversions) could easily be 8 as well, but it just seems to be a record not many are too worried about.

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I'm not an enthusiast, I just play one on message boards.

Homey G.

If you look at the the second reply, Peabody says that the current record for inversions is 10 by Colossus in Thorpe Park. Are you sure your statement was correct?

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They call me Sir Lancelot, the "Prince of Camelot".

Inversions is 10 for Colossus at Thorpe Park Homie G. They added all those in line twists just for the record.

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You better scream now, because at 420 feet now one can hear you.

If you go over the top at 7 mph and have a 214 foot drop the theoretical top speed is 80.2 MPH. In the real world, you're not going to see over 80 MPH unless there's a hurricane blowing down the hill.

Bakc to the original question, I remember riding Beast when it was the tallest and fastest coaster in the world. It wasn't that terribly long ago either.