AIR is Tame

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MonkeyMaster said:
ive talked to some park workers and i heard that B&M's are *very* horrible to operate and that they malfunction way too often.

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Is that your "expert" opinion? When Cedar Point's VP of maintenance and construction was recently asked about working with B&M he said very simply, "Their product is so good we rarely have to worry about anything." There's a guy who gets paid to fix a park full of 68 rides. How many rides are you responsible for?

The part I found uncomfortable about the Vekoma midel is the pressure on your shins. The weight of your legs is not well distributed at all, and you shins aren't a great place to put pressure in any situation, let alone when you're pulling a few G's.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

*** This post was edited by Jeff on 3/17/2002. ***

Sidwwinder: Proof that B&M has been working on the flying concept for a while comes t straighfrom John Wardley. They talked with B&M about it before Nemesis was built, and AIR was originally supposed to be built before Oblivion. I'm sure they have been working on AIR for a year and a half, but it's been officially said that they've been working on it for almost 10 years.

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- Peabody

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colin mcwilliam said:

The rubber vest bit is comfortable, but thats not a problem with the Vekoma's either. On Air you have your ankles gripped which is a bit claustrophobic, alright if you enjoy being tied up I suppose... And just like on the Vekoma's, if you are male and don't hold yourself into position properly other bits can get in the way to. I think the pros of Air are balanced by the cons.

Given that, when B&M announced the flyer, everyone(myself inc) thought it would be Stealth with quality, and its just not the case.

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Thanks alot for all the news on your new Beemer flyer, Colin. I think the Vekomas really were all good flyers, even if I too find the prone position less than "comfy" for riding. Wish I'd gotten another spin on Stealth, perhaps another time. I thnk the vest thing is basically an essential aspect, and is a *tad* more uncomfortable for the females, if you get my drift (note to females, it seems you're better off pushing away from the vest with your arms, but I'm sure experiences vary). The shin thing was not bad, but also essential...soft-padding would be best IMO, kinda like the OSTR's. Definitely these are rides you have to learn how to ride...but still fun.

Personally, the tunneling aspect is something I value highly, but then again, "tunnels" in FL are what WE call retention ponds. I think they add to the feeling of speed....S:UF will fly CLOSE to the ground, reminiscent of the finale on Alpie, and that will be nice. S:UF won't be that tall or fast either ("tame"), and I think that's a generic limitation imposed by the prone position. But I think it's a safe bet that AT will theme/landscape theirs in the next year or so, and HIGHLY unlikely that SF will do a better job of that than AT will...

B&M inverts, for what it's worth, are WAY better than Vekoma SLCs, but Stealth and its offspring were just "finished" products that B&M could not improve upon in any great way....just my opinion (recognizing that B&M may have begun work on flyers earlier, but theirs came "to market" 2 years later). Thanks again, Colin, looking forward to more updates on all your new "toys"...

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It's March, but the Madness is over in Mudville, Mighty U-D has struck out...
If you can't laugh at yourself, at least stop laughing at ME!

*** This post was edited by rollergator on 3/17/2002. ***

looks neat!

Why does it have to be B&M VS. Vekoma. WHy can't it be B&M and Vekoma... they arn't in direct oposition, they can co-exsist

AIR was announced that it was meant to exillarate rather that scare which from what I am getting at it does just that. It isn't meant to be a super fast looping, tall ride. It is meant to make it like your are flying around an area at a not so fast speed. If you like huge thrills and all then a FD is probably right for you but like the park wanted it is for people not wnating huge thrills. Some enthusiasts are loving the ride even though it might not have lots of thrills and some aren't because it doesn't, even though it isn't meant to scare you. Personally it looks as if B&M made a clone of a FD with the inverted style stuff and their trains and all and put it up to a FD people would chose the B&M because of its comfort and stuff. Right now we are just judging it on a (meant to be)"tame" coaster to a (meant to be) "intense" coaster.