It's Arrow Dynamics Marketing Director Jim Sheldon discussing the suspended coaster prototype. The clip is from 1979 and has video of a scale model suspended coaster doing a corkscrew. It also has footage (including pov) of a full sized model built without banked turns.
It's an interesting video if only for Jim Sheldon's radical 'stash
That little clip is just a tiny piece of a much larger special that aired in '79 (even the part with Sheldon is longer). I think I have the whole thing somewhere.
I've always wondered why the use of Schwarzkopf style box track on the full size mockup. Of interest to me also is how Schwarzkopf started building Big Bad Wolf, went bankrupt, and Arow took over the coaster. I wonder if that's why BBW is so cool, that Anton had a hand in it :)
I always wondered that myself. The thing is, BBW doesn't really feature anything out of the ordinary as far as Arrow suspendeds go, it just seems that some of its elements were designed on a larger scale. If other suspendeds featured things such as larger drops, I think they would have been better received by the public.
Agreed...most haven't aged well. Every time I watch Iron dragon's wheel assembliy go "bang bang bang bang" down the track I feel it could use some sort of retrofit of spring loaded wheels like the swiss guys use :)
Ninja would be great because it takes good advantage of the terrain. I also like how the ride begins and ends with lift hills so there isn't a second lift in the middle of the ride to cause a break in the action. Maybe the coaster needs those new Vekoma floorless suspended trains?
I've ridden all bar one of the operating Arrow suspended coasters, and I reckon the one in Canada's Wonderland to be the best of the bunch - though to be fair it probably helped that it was the best coaster there by a large margin :)
Having said that, the one at Chessington is pretty neat, though the new trains on that mean it doesn't feel like the older Arrow rides.
The lack of banking would be one of the reasons The Bat failed at Kings Island.
I really wonder what made CP see such a unique ride and want a version that took little advantage of the swinging motion. Iron Dragon is great for kids, but the swinging isn't really needed.
That inversion on the model version would be just a bit painful.
That video is taken from a 30 minute feature called America Screams. It's hosted by Vincent Price (of classic horror movie fame), and he takes the viewer through the history of the roller coaster. It also features extensive POV footage of Colossus and the King Cobra at Kings Dominion.
It seems to date from around 1979 or so.
I own it, so maybe I'll upload it to youtube if I get some time.
mike okay said:The clip is from 1979 and has video of a scale model suspended coaster doing a corkscrew.
They actually made a full size model with a corkscrew too. They have a picture of it in the latest issue of ACE's magizine, "Rollercoaster!", I'd copy the picture, but don't want to violate any copyright issues. I'm sure there's a pic of it somewhere out there online.
