Airtime on Inverted Coasters

Hi :)

my school band is going to Florida next winter, and one of the parks we're going to is IoA. With this on my to do list, I've been reading various reviews of the park, and coasters.

One thing that surprised me was how many people seem to love the airtime hill on Fire Dragon. They say that it is almost similar to that on a hypercoaster (and is also fun as Ice Dragon is doing a barrel roll beneath you ;) )

Anyways...

I continue to read reviews of inverted coasters, and have found a few others that apparently have some good air. Katun in Itaky was one example, and it is said to have a lot right before the brake run.

I'm just curious if anyone has anything to say about this, because I think an inverted coaster with a few bunny hills at the end would add a great effect to the ride. Also, how is the hill on Fire Dragon, is it noticable, or not?

Thanks :)

-----------------
--Dingo 65--
http://rct.ogresnet.com
Forgotten member of Thrillride forums.

Dingo:

The airhill on Fire Dragon is pretty noticeable and fun. The only other inverted I've ridden that has that type of air is Talon at Dorney Park; I think Talon actually has a little more air than Fire Dragon.

I'm still waiting for the hyper inverted, and they can put bunny hops on it if they want to... ;-)

-----------------
Mike Miller

"You're trouble, Trouble Boy!"

yeah, Bass is right.....right before the final brakes there is a nice pop of airtime on Talon....also a nice pop before entering the first part of that helix-flat spin-helix combo :)

-----------------
Holiday World...the cure for the common theme park!!!

Gas Tank to IN and back: $30
Admission to Fall Freak Out at Holiday World: $26
3 hours and about 60 rides worth of nighttime ERT on the two greatest wooden coasters ever built: Priceless :-D
Ther

Let me just back up what the two posts before this one say.

Fire Dragon's air is noticable. Just like a bunny hop on a sit down coaster.

Talon also offers airtime. You get a nice floaty pop right after the midway point as you drop into the onride photo and again just before the final brakes. Oddly enough I think the best seat for the air on Talon is row 6. It doesn't make much sense but that's where I seemed to notice it most.

-----------------
www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 19

Raptor and Great Bear have great air on there first drops if you sit in the back seat on the outside.

-----------------
-Joey-
Ninjas are cool; and by cool, I mean totaly sweet.

My favorite is the "dip & flip" on Raptor. Near the end, there's a quick airtime drop, immediately followed by a flat spin.

-----------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Talon has fun floaters and, I could remember feeling a lil air on the zero g roll and some other parts on Great Bear.

Do the Intamin impulses count? :)

Montu used to have the most bazaar, yet great floatage as you pulled up into the midcourse brake. Unfortunately, the trims before the batwing have taken that little surprise away :(

-------------
James Draeger
-Captain Sarcasm

Funny, I completely forgot what my Dragon ride was like a few years ago. To tell you the truth, I wasn't that impressed with Hulk OR DD. Dueling Dragons wasn't all that fun and Hulk was really boring after the launch. Last year I made it to Seaworld and loved Kraken = floating drop, awesome g's, awesome fun!-

-----------------
Dan ~ Proud Coasternet Staffer (Coasterman Dan)
"The floor is seeking but you will be sailing. 3,2,1, clear! Your outta here" ~Raptor

I didnt notice any air on fire dragon. maybe it was running slow, but at the same time i was paying attention to the ice train below me ;-)

-----------------
#1-MF #2-Apollo's Chariot #3-S:RoS

Coasters Ridden: 42

will we ever see an inverted hyper do you think? and i dont mean an inverted coaster that just happens to be over 200ft but is normal in every other way, i mean an inverted coaster which just has bunny hops and air time, no inversions. what do you think? would new restraints need to be developed to feel the full effect? maybe add a version of the B&M clamshell to inverted trains?

*** This post was edited by laurence on 11/25/2002. ***

I'm probably asking for a flaming here, but quite honestly, I felt *no* airtime sensation on Fire Dragon. I was like "ok we're going up... and now we're going down." We were just sorta going.

-----------------
Is that a Q-bot in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

It had some air (I guess) but I was too busy gawking at Ice twisting beneath my feet.

Talon's drop beneath the lift hill is probably the most air I've experienced on an inverted coaster.

-'Playa

-----------------
The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

I noticed there's nice air in the camelback on Fire Dragon. Talon has a couple spots. I noticed air after the S-turn in the back seat and air in the front seat heading up into the brakes. I think airtime on inverted coasters is pretty neat since it's a rarity.

-----------------
I was asked to describe X in one word. The word? -- OhmygoshwhathaveIgottenmyselfintothisisthescariest
thingintheworldhelpmeIamgoingtodieAHHHH!!!

Maybe my memory of the aitime on Fire Dragon is altered by the fact that the last ride I got was at HHN. It was one of the last traibns of the night (running good and warm) after about an hour of slow, but steady, drizzle. Easily the fastest ride I've ever had on DD, tons of positive G's and big floaty air on the hump. Then again, Fire Dragon is my favorite coaster at IOA.

-----------------
www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park visits in 2002: 19

I too didnt notice the air due to ice below me.

Also, I thought that bunny hills are not possible on inverteds due to the limit of the curve of the hill because of the size of the trains. I remember reading this somewhere as to why inverted coasters dont have conventional drops, rather they do the twisting curve drop.

Yes, onceler, because of the much longer nature of the Inverted trains; it gives the effect of having a much tighter radius at the lower end of the train. In essence, because of the way the lower end of the train bunches together at the top of hills, hills can't have a very tight radius. I know on SLC's, at the top of the lift you can (well, at least I can) put your feet on the back of the row in front.

This is the reason that SLC's camel back after the Sea Serpent, before the Sidewinder is banked so heavily, despite being straight, i.e. to allow the radius at the top to be tighter. Nonetheless, this camel back I find provides some rather intense air.

We won't see them building much in the way of bunny hill after bunny hill on inverted coasters, because of the limitations with the train design, which would make them too gradual to provide anything that can't be achieved much more easily (and cheaply) on a sitdown coaster.

-----------------
So what if the best coaster in Australia is a second hand Arrow?

*** This post was edited by auscoasterman on 11/26/2002. ***

I believe all vekoma SLC's have banked camelbacks, that give great air. Thats about the only part I like on them (well, I've only ridden one, WBMW Australia).

*** This post was edited by zztopless on 11/26/2002. ***

PGA's Top Gun also has some nice moments of airtime.

-----------------
Superman:The Escape(1997-2002) May he one day fly again.