Any new 4D's sold yet???
I still maintain that SFMM would be well served to replace the pneumatics that rotate the seats a whopping 4 times in the station (and seem to be the single biggest failure point, *every* time I've seen X shut down for some time, it's been due to the pneumatics failing in the station so the seats can't rotate) with a raising/lowering floor like Batman & Deja Vu have. Seems more reliable and *definitely* faster.
Also, last time I went to SFMM (Sunday, Dec. 22nd), wait times for X were hovering around 20 minutes. Rode it 5 times until I froze to death.
-------------
Prodigy's Back and I-Fan is a happy camper! "Baby's Got a Temper"--single and video banned worldwide.
Mike E said:
...Although top speed is a mere 76mph...
A mere 76 mph, eh? Only in 2002... ;)
-----------------
Never Has Gravity Been So Uplifting.
*** This post was edited by BullGuy on 12/29/2002. ***
Jephry said:
No park is going to want to buy another 4D coaster if there are major problems with it. Who wants to invest money into something that might work? There is always a gamble with new coaster designs and only a few parks will take the chance at buying one.
Speaking of S&S, how many Air Thrust 2000 have we seen since Hypersonic XLC? It had kinks too and no one wants to deal with that maintainance.
Dodonpa anybody?
The problem with X isn't capacity or a "bad track record" or that Arrow was pushed to build a ride too big and too soon. People, use your brains. Like every prototype that has ever been made, rumors come with it. They're all false. X may have hit a few bumps in the road along the way, but so has every other coaster. If you can tell my one coaster that has been open for it's entire life, then I'll bow down and call you god. It doesn't happen people. X is just so new and radical that it has more bumps than others. Every coaster has them. If another 4d doesn't get built, then SFMM has something special. But who cares? Our lives don't revolve around this one ride. You aren't gonna die if one isn't build at your home park.
The bottom line is that X is special. All prototypes and all rides run into problems. Do we really have to make these problems bigger than they are? No.
DWeaver said:
Superman:The Escape(1997-2002) May he one day fly again.*** This post was edited by DWeaver on 12/29/2002. ***
Maybe I've been away from the coaster scene for 2 long, but what does this nosense of a signature mean? Is Superman done operating?
If I recall some reports, S:TE doesn't go as high as it used to. Around 330 feet as opposed to... something higher.
...personally, I can wait for the next 4D coaster, no matter how long it takes...
-----------------
Tommy Penner
Lightswitch Raver!
Variable X - My Personal Space
-------------
CBCon Quote "We didn't even get wet"......30 seconds later you hear plop, then splash!!!!
Mike E said: Because of the massive forces involved, this ride probably should have been tested for another two or three months at least. In fact, I believe that is what CP will do with #16 which is a smart move.
Intamin built a pretty large scale mock up of a rocket coaster in Germany, which is why Xcelerator got going pretty flawlessly at first, save the problems with a few proximity sensors and the General Intamin unreliability (which can go on for decades, look at the sky cabin rides and how often they break down, daily). And then Intamin and CF wanted to make sure the hydraulic launch was able to work at 117mph, so they built xcelerator with more power than needed and tested it quite a few times at above normal speeds. Compare that to Arrow's tiny mockup in a warehouse that goes 15 MPH on 200 feet of track. Rotations on the track are not the problem. Its things like stress from 19 foot wide trains & the loading procedures in the station.
lumpy72 said:
I seem to remember another "Arrow Prototype" that had major problems and eventually was removed. Does "The Bat" ring any bells. It's demise didn't stop Arrow from building others like "Iron Dragon", "Big Bad Wolf" and "Top Gun" to name a few. I doubt the problems of "X" will have any more of an negative effect on future 4D's than "The Bat" had on the suspended coasters that followed. The Arrow bankruptcy has been more of an delay on the future of this ride type than any thing else has.-------------
CBCon Quote "We didn't even get wet"......30 seconds later you hear plop, then splash!!!!
Yeah, Arrow did re-bound with the suspended coaster after The Bat failed, but look what we got when all the kinks were worked out. Many people complain about the boring layouts, slow speeds and practically non-existant swinging. The Bat, on the other hand, was actually very slow at 35 miles per hour, and somehow the cars swung past 90 degrees, giving the best ride a suspended coaster has ever given. Will we see anymore 4th Dimension coasters? Probably, but I hope they aren't tamed down 20 notches like Arrow did after The Bat failed with the suspended coaster.
-----------------
Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.
CoasterKrazy,
Have you ridden any of the newer suspended coasters? I think once Arrow saw what happened to The Bat they took it down a few notches of intensity. Then they slowly started to build their way back up to rides like Top Gun at PKI (the park which origonally held The Bat). That ride is fast, intense, and incredibly fun!
Yes I have ridden the newer suspended coasters. And my original post said that Arrow made their suspended coasters after The Bat much less intense. As for the good suspended coasters of today, I haven't heard anyone say that they can compare to The Bat. Heck, Big Bad Wolf, which people say is the best suspended coaster today, wasn't even desgined by Arrow!
However, I think that the suspended coasters could possibly make a comeback, even if it is a small one. Arrow now offers floorless trains, which could make older coasters a little more popular, and they are also in the process of making suspended coasters so that they can go through inversions. This was before the merge with S&S, so I don't know if this project is still open.
-----------------
Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.
Originally, suspended coasters were supposed to be able to travel through inversions. After design and testing, Arrow found that the suspended coaster could not go through inversions. This left us with the coasters we have today.
I went to Arrow's web site and asked why the suspended coaster couldn't go through inversions. The response I got was that the original design of the trains didn't allow for inversions, but that Arrow was "working on it."
-----------------
Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.
CoasterKrazy,
Again, you're wrong. One thing you complained about was that the newer rides don't swing very much. The floorless trains have been said to not swing as much as the regular ones. Another thing is you said Arrow designs these trains, Vekoma is the one that does it. The reason that the trains can't go through an inversion is that for it to occur, there would have to be a lot of positive g forces inorder to keep the train from swinging to one side to another. These forces are too large for a human to with stand. As for an element like a corkscrew, I imagine it is the same type of problem. I'm not exactly sure though as I am not a physics expert.
Well, sorry to say, but you are the one who is wrong. You need to re-read my posts. Vekoma was the FIRST company to produce floorless suspended trains. They simply renovated Vampire at Chessington World of Adventures. Arrow watched over the project, since Vampire is an Arrow coaster.
Now, Vekoma isn't the only roller coaster company that offers suspended floorless trains. Arrow does as well. You can even check their website if you don't believe me. Considering the swinging of today's suspended coasters: The Bat would often swing past 90 degrees, due to the fact the the track wasn't banked. The suspended coasters that we have today rarely go past 90 degrees when swinging.
And as for inversions on these coaster, as far as I know, corkscrews were the first inversions attempted. I've downloaded some video footage of a model suspended coaster with a corkscrew, but I don't know where I got it. It also shows what I assume to be the first full-scale ride. It's actually very interesting to see the different track styles Arrow tried using on the suspended.
EDIT: Here's a link to that video mentioned above. Scroll down until you see the file: http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19725&perpage=15&highlight=Suspended%20coaster%20videos&pagenumber=2
-----------------
Intelligence is a God given gift: Know how to use it.
*** This post was edited by CoasterKrazy on 12/30/2002. ***
They can design suspended trains to go thru invertions with a locking pin design that locks/unlocks the swinging cars. Arrow dose have the right idea with the spinning wild mouse. It sounds simple enough, weather or not they can do something like that safely is anther thing.
Now back on the topic. X did not fail, it's still running. We should never expect a perect coaster, weather it's a totaly new design or a one that's been around for awhile. They all have there bugs and there problems, some may have less then others thru out the coasters' life.
Do I see more 4Ds? Yes I do think a few more 4Ds will be built. I also think S&S and Arrow is takeing the 4D idea and expanding on it. I don't realy see them let this killer idea just sit on the shelf and collect dust. I do, however see an overseas park buying the 'next gen. 4D'. Only time can tell.
-----------------
Is it May yet??
You must be logged in to post
