Flying Turns Update

Is it too much to hope for an August/September opening (undoubtedly accompanied by HUGE lines as a result of one train operation...)?

Why is the construction process taking so long? I realize this is the first one to be built in decades but we have computers now to help with the design.

The design was pretty much done a long time ago. The construction is what's taking forever. This project is far from the "simplicity" of a conventional wooden coaster. It will get done when it gets done. I'm hoping it will be ready in plenty of time for PPP.

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P18 said:
That must be one heck of a drive from Philly to Knoebels each day, I'm about in the middle of that drive and it takes me about 3 hours to get to Knoebels (I'm right on 73 so I just shoot up there to 61 then 487)

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Steve only works on the weekends at Knoebels. He drives up early Saturday morning and works all day, spends the night, works all day Sunday then drives home Sunday night.

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Jason Hammond said:
I'm fairly sure no one said they were testing yet.

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John Fetterman is the one that said they sent down the two car chassis ONE time. This is the extent of the testing they have done so far. I should have asked what they used to stop the car! :) They manually pushed it up the main lift and tossed it over just to get a general idea of how the train will perform.

The overall design of the train is still in the works but they had to do something to get an idea. This is basically a lost technology that has been resurrected and since the last Turns was torn down in the early 70's they have to go slowly to see how things work. It's not like Knoebels is Intamin or B & M and can build test rides then tear them down and start over. :)

Tom

^LOL, thanks Tom....nice pics and all.

Oh, and please tell that delinquent coaster carpenter I said hello! He's largely to blame for you all having to tolerate me.... :)

^ Now that I know that I may never speak to him again. ;)

Intamin tests their rides? You're kidding right? ;)

^Well, they do test their rides once--with the first paying customers--and then everyone huddles around from Intamin at the home-office and says a prayer that nothing bad happens after that. It usually works out--well, most of the time:)

Seriously though, this Flying Turns ride is taking forever. I had a bad feeling about it from the Knoebels Podcast last year. There were comments made to the effect of "Well, we'll work on it, but if the logflume breaksdown we have to go take care of that."

But I'm a patient person, and by Knoebels tickets from last year are good forever. And if it doesn't open this year, there's one less park to go to.

From looking at the webcams, I think it's looking more and more like there is a chance it'll still open this year.

i've heard from some ride ops at Knoebels chances are it wouldn't open this year. if you think about it it makes sense. the track isnt done yet. logically i would think the track would have to be complete before any decision is made on the trains and its not like they will be in stock somewhere so to wish for a september opening is very optimistic IMO. it sure is a beautiful structure and this year or next year i will be there when it opens :)

today on the webcams it looks like they are laying the floorboards for the station... or at least the support beams for the floorboard.

I can't tell if that's floor or roof. It almost looks like it slopes up over the track.

A while ago I saw what looked like a car being pushed up the first lift, but that could be wishful thinking. I haven't been there for a few weeks, so I don't even know if they've connected the lift to the helix yet.

Also someone was working on something on a pole at the crest of the second lift. I can't tell if it's a light or a camera.

Why is one of the webcams down?

Hopefully they're moving it to somewhere more useful. They've always been late doing that -- earlier this year they put a camera on the brake run about two days before the roof was finished.

Lift and helix still weren't connected as of Monday. They were working on the lift hill. A crew was also affixing flat metal boxes below the track in the brake run area-- part of the braking mechanism I'm sure.

At the moment both cams are down, it's just that the bottom one has an old image stuck and the top one doesn't. Just as things were getting interesting...

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RatherGoodBear said:
Lift and helix still weren't connected as of Monday. They were working on the lift hill. A crew was also affixing flat metal boxes below the track in the brake run area-- part of the braking mechanism I'm sure.

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Hmm, at both ends of the helix? I wonder how long the switches will take to build (as well as that trough going around the helix) Didn't they said something about running it with one train as the transfer is built?

To be honest, the only part I saw for sure was Lift 1 into Helix. Didn't even check lift 2 out of helix.

Ohh ok, gotcha. It seems as if the site itself isn't up right now, maybe they are just updating it a bit (the status thats on the front page hasn't been changed in a while, relocating that cam perhaps, etc)

*edit the site is back and nothing really has changed* *** Edited 7/13/2007 8:55:34 AM UTC by P18***

Prototype car:

http://www.pbase.com/jim_shaffer/image/82167341/large.jpg