Bush Gardens Tampa 2011 Coaster

Constant Coasters said:
The question is, will the new mack coasters be as reliable as the b&m coasters that Busch seems to have built now in days. Their is no doubt that B&M is very reliable, so do you think Mack is going to be as reliable for Busch as B&M?

Considering the other company that could be doing this coaster...I don't think there's a question on whether Mack would be more reliable. As reliable as the B&Ms, probably not. But more reliable than the other manufacturer in question, most definitely.

TheMillenniumRider said:

No I have not. I don't have the means of going overseas yet, still in college. However that ride is in the minority for Mack, so I am judging based on what i have ridden. Get back to me in a couple more years. :)

So what exactly have you ridden from Mack? Looking at your posted track record all I see is a coaster-flume hybrid. Are you judging a company based on the experience of one ride?

I am kind of curious, I've never heard of anyone speak poorly of Mack. Their wild mouse rides are typically better than their competitors. Everyone seems to like the bobsled rides. Sierra Sidewinder was a fun ride. And their coaster-flume hybrids are good for what they are. What is it you don't like about them?

Yeah, I really enjoyed Sierra Sidewinder. It was one of the most unique coasters I have been on. And while its capacity was horrendous (Twenty minute wait at Knott's), I really enjoyed how you could make it spin depending on how you leaned.

I think Mack has a lot of creative and unique ideas, though they may be difficult to execute, they release a positive experience to the rider.

I wouldn't really mind more Mack rides in the US, especially if it meant more competition for B&M and Intamin.

Jeffrey Seifert said:

So what exactly have you ridden from Mack? Looking at your posted track record all I see is a coaster-flume hybrid. Are you judging a company based on the experience of one ride?

I am kind of curious, I've never heard of anyone speak poorly of Mack. Their wild mouse rides are typically better than their competitors. Everyone seems to like the bobsled rides. Sierra Sidewinder was a fun ride. And their coaster-flume hybrids are good for what they are. What is it you don't like about them?

And you didn't even mention Euro Sat and Euro Mir :)

I entirely agree with you Jeffrey. I'm struggling to think of a Mack coaster I haven't enjoyed. As as for reliability, my understanding is that Blue Fire didn't miss a beat throughout 2009. Looks like Mr B & Mr M have a legitimate rival on the reliability front. Not before time either.

TheMillenniumRider said:
I'm no expert but if you used a system of steel lattice would that not help out? Or would this require active dampening?

I'd guess that because it's a coaster (rather than, say, a piece of industrial equipment where failure results "only" in a loss of money), the need to overbuild (factor of safety) causes the cost to go up rapidly. Using more steel might not be the best solution, because the more steel you use, the more you have to overbuild the track.

Aluminum represents a possible solution, but then you're dealing with a more brittle material that undergoes constant cyclic loading, which ultimately weakens the material, leading to eventual failure. There are aluminum alloys that could perhaps do the job, but the cost of aircraft-quality aluminum is anything but cheap, especially at this scale.

Using some sort of damping system might work, but the complexity of such a system would add all sorts of extra points of failure, in addition to substantial cost (design, construction & maintenance). Though I could be way off on this point... vibes was my worst subject.