Cobra Roll posts pictures of Vekoma tilt coaster

Brian, giant rider: I got the same error, but only when I tried it in Netscape. Try this link to go directly to the Gravity Max page: http://www.coaster-network.com/bm/vekoma/tilt.htm

I'd like to comment on the safety issue, but first let me say that I am NOT hating on the coaster. I think it looks like a very intense ride and I would give it a go in a heartbeat. However, I think the safety concern is a legitimate one. There's one thing that all coasters have in common: they have a continuous run of track. Whether it is a shuttle or a full circuit, they all have pieces of track that are connected to each other piece by piece. (I know the Caripro Batflyers use a vertical elevator lift, but the car stays horizontal while rising.) With the tilt coaster, you are taking a piece of track and separating it from it's next piece. Think about it...if Superman:Ultimate Escape had a break failure while the train was being held on the vertical spike, what happens? The trains simply rolls back down on to the next piece of track and continues on. If the breaks were to fail on a tilt coaster while mid-tilt, the car has no place to go but off the track, and the results would be catastrophic. I know that is a huge "if", I'm sure they have thoroughly tested it, I am sure the chances of an accident are still very, very slim. BUT, we're still talking about a mechanical device, and even the most well-designed mechanical devices can fail.

Jeff said: Wow... What is wrong with people who hate on a ride before they have been on it?

Gotta agree with what 2Hostyl posted a while back...why can't people "hate on" a ride they haven't ridden when it's okay for people to gush and gush about a ride they haven't ridden? Admittedly, I'd rather see people praising something because that's what this hobby is all about, having fun, but why is there a double standard? Everyone is going to have an opinion about something, whether they have ridden it or not. I'm just wondering why it's okay to say a ride will "rule/rock" whatever, but it's not to say "I don't think that looks too interesting."

Joe, who thinks the Cliffhanger looks pretty cool.

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"Yes if by crestfallen you mean KILL US!" -- Homer J. Simpson

Well i didn't know it was being built, where is it being built.

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Drachen Fire, Will it be swimming with the fishies?

Opps, nevermind is at the top.....so what is its name

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Drachen Fire, Will it be swimming with the fishies?

I'm looking forward to the Giavonola version, doesn't that not only tilt, but also rotate since you start out before tilt perpendicular to the drop. But hey, this is going to be awesome too.

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I'd Rather Be Riding Rollercoasters *** This post was edited by FloridaCoasterRider on 3/22/2001. ***

I certainly see your point Dustijn, and I think that thought will occur to everyone who steps aboad this ride, adding to the fear. However, does anyone actually think Vekoma hasn't thought of this? I don't know for sure, but I would think that there would be fail system after fail system on this kind of ride, why else would any insurance co. approve such a ride to be built.

Hey

It seems Coaster-Network is down at the moment
But lukily i dident put the pictures on the C-N servers i put them here

http://rollerc.hypermart.net/tilt1.jpg
http://rollerc.hypermart.net/tilt2.jpg
http://rollerc.hypermart.net/tilt3.jpg

Change the end numbers to the all the way up to 13 to see all the other pics (So you end on http://rollerc.hypermart.net/tilt13.jpg)

Hope that helps those of you having trouble with them

Well, as far as the safety issue is concerned, I would guess there probably is a retractable lever that holds the car in place until it is vertical, and then disengages to let the car fall. I REALLY doubt the people at Vekoma haven't thought about it just as much as we have. Still, it is nothing more than a gimmick, and I would have no reason in the world to ride such a coaster. I'm not impressed with it anymore than I am the thrust air - which doesn't impress, nor interest, me at all.

You guys mus know nothing about how the breaks work on a roller coaster. I have run rollercoasters and it dosen't work like you think it does, no matter what you have seen on RCT, sorry guys. In most standard breaking systems it takes air pressure to OPEN breaks, other then that they stay closed. And if they use LIM's/LSM's that would work too. Roller coasters computer systems are so complex and safe that the coasters breaks would not be able to open until the coasters tracks are PERFECTLY lined up, they only problem I can possibly see is a Power Failure or a Low Air Pressure Alert when it's in the tilt position. No Air = Breaks Don't Open, Uhuo :)

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- http://CHZ.8m.com

I don't think that safety will be as big an issue as most people think it will be. I don't think that you understand how rollercoaster brakes work. I imagine that the arm will not tilt unless the train is stopped and held by the brakes.

If the power is suddenly cut off then the brakes slam shut. Rollercoaster Tycoon has it wrong in the station breaks failures department. The only way that the brakes won't work is if something blocks them and they can close. The brakes won't open again until power is supplied to the brakes again. In fact, when the ride is normally operating, the electic circuit is closed(allowing current to flow through) to open the brakes(allowing the train to pass) and opened(stopping electricity) to close the brakes(stopping the train).

You wouldn't ride it because you're afraid the brakes will fail in the tilt? Pardon me, but it sounds like you're just scared...of a coaster. You could say that you won't ride an invert because the only thing keeping you from falling is a lap bar. They DO research these things, you know. Isn't fear the best "element" in a coaster anyway? You can have all the inversions and cobra rolls you want, but if it isn't exciting, it isn't worth riding... and I think the actual track beneath me moving from its supports is pretty damn exciting.

By the way, to the person who said "Don't you play RCT? Brakes Fail..." Were you serious? I've worked in the amusement industry for 13 years now and NEVER had brakes release for no reason. There is a safeguard which ensures this: brakes are by default in the ON position. You need the electric/air/whatever to OPEN them. When brakes fail, trains STOP!


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I refuse to add a signature. Damn, too late.

SHWEEEEET! Why is all the good stuff like that half way around the world?

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Is it just me or does Hypersonic look like one of those coasters you would see on Looney Toons?

Well... just to comment on all the people who bashed some of the haters (of which I believe I was one who was one of them since I posted 2nd in this topic)...

I do not hate the tilt coaster... I probably would love to ride one of those. The problem I have is that currently, it's nothing more than a gimmick.

Example with Boomerang coasters:
They started as nothing more than a shuttle coaster with a single loop... up a hill, and back down the hill through the loop again. Eventually, it evolved slowly where it contained more elements such as a reverse lift, A cobra roll (boomerang if you will), & a loop.

Today, we have them taller. We have them inverted, we have them at 90 degree drop angles, and we have them launched with a twist (Superman: UE)! Evolution, people!!!

Give it time and the Tilt coaster will evolve into something great. Until then... it's a new element which I consider a gimmick, because it's put onto a general coaster with little else to attract people (a helix & loop? puh-lease!).

Granted... it's be great fun to ride, but with this coaster being at such short length... I doubt that they'll be running 3 trains... hense a long wait!!! In about 5yrs, it won't be as popular as newer ones that pop up all over the world when they reach 5yrs.

Remember, this is just my opinion and speculation, and of course I could be wrong (usually am!).