Flat ride e-stops

I recently took a part time job at SFStl to help pay the bills and one of the rides I have been operating is th Highland Fling.(Swartzkopf enterprise) Apparently when performing an e-stop on this ride(which by the way we were told to NEVER use the E-stop unless you REALLY,REALLY mean it.) not only does the wheel stop rotating rather quickly, but the lift arm dumps the hydraulic fluid VERY quickly and the ride slams to the ground. I have never seen this tested, but was told in the event of an e-stop everyone on the ride has to be checked out by the first aid crew as the stop is quite violent. My question is why would the ride be designed this way, and not have a more controlled but quicker than normal decent. I realize that this ride is 26 years old, but it just seems odd that they made it this way. We do have a ride stop button that stops the forward process of the ride and brings it to a normal stop.

BTW, I was told that even though the e-stop is tested regularly, it has never been used with guests on board, and fortunately there has never been a power outage while the ride was elevated.

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Just a couple of G-Force junkies!

I might be wrong, but I think E-stop simply cuts the power to the ride so has no 'control' over how it stops. I understand your point though, so can't really answer the question, but suspect this may have something to do with it.

We have an enterprise at SFOG, and the result of an e-stop for it is equally stunning. I suppose if someone entered the ride area, or the restraint mechanism failed and a car, you'd want the ride stopped and on the ground very quickly.

One thing as an op, you gotta know when to use ride stop and when to use e-stop. Every situation is different. I would hesistate to use e-stop on an enterprise moreso than I would any coaster, simply because of the results.

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

A long time ago I was at Opryland (so you know it's been awhile), and I was riding their Zeirer Waveswinger when the operator E-stopped it mid-cycle. It was the scariest event ever! The round overhead part that holds the swings came to an immediate stop, and the swings kept on going naturally, and as they came back swinging to and fro many of the swings went inwards toward the center column breaking some of the light bulbs that adorn the structure. Ouch! The reason for the e-stop: a young girl was crying bloody murder to get off because she was scared...not worthy of an e-stop if you ask me.

I'm sure that operator got as much of a shock as you when it stopped THAT suddenly! I suspect he thought it would just quickly end the ride as opposed to freezing like that.

Yeah, the op was pretty surprised if I remember correctly...it's been about 15 years since, but I recall the event quite vividly because it was a weird experiece to say the least about it, certainly the last thing I ever expected on what is normally a gentle ride. But it hasn't affected my intense love of the waveswinger!
I don't understand why the Waveswinger or any other ride would be designed to stop so abruptly? In my situation many others were injured as a result of the e-stop that was used to help ONE guest.

If you are all talking about the Wave Swinger ride that spins with the seats attached to the chains, then Ouch! If your spinning in one direction and all the sudden the top of the ride stop. Your going to get one heck of a swing with those chains, and most likely hit the person in front of you. Was anyone hurt?

I've been on a ride stop on a Chance Chaos. The gondola slowly stops spinning (not delayed, but not forced) and the arm brings the ride to the ground. The gondola has usually stopped spinning before the arm brings the ride down.

I don't know what happened but we got a free ride out of the deal. :)

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SFNE Central- Online Six Flags New England Resource

I am talking about the Wave Swinger, yes.

After thinking about it a little more I remember some more about it...
The ride started normal. It was all the way up and in tilt mode. Then I remember the little girl started crying a little, no big deal, then she started whaling! Opryland's model had a bell that signalled when the ride cycle was complete or when it was stopped by the operator. And I distinctly remember the bell going off sooner than usual, then the top leveled out and as soon as it leveled out, it stopped. It didn't slow down, it Stopped! The swings kept going and I recall that everyone gasped very loudly while everyone collided. As I remember, when we came backwards the first time en masse, the people on the inside row of the ride started hitting the center column and the bulbs...this is happening while the ride is descending at a normal speed I'd say.

The ride was full and I slammed into the person in front of me, which was my friend who was with me, and the person behind me hit me as well...and the people to my right hit me also. Fortunately for me and my friend, we always rode on the outermost swings and did not hit the center column. Everyone's swings were knocking together and it was pretty painful...as I remember my knees were in a lot pain, but wore off quickly thanks to being young. After the incident my friend and I got out of there and left. I remember seeing a person who was cut from the bulbs...but I don't think there was any serious injuries or anything of that nature.
*** This post was edited by coasterfreaky 7/20/2003 12:40:24 PM ***

The right is like the HUSS Enterprise. In short, you have a large wheel with gondolas that swing out along the wheel’s circumference. The wheel spins causing centrifugal force to be applied to the gondolas thus causing them to swing outward has the ride is operating. The wheel is attached to a center column that hydraulically extends vertically perpendicular to the ride base. When the emergency stop button is depressed the main power circuit breakers to the hydraulic pump are opened up. Loss of hydraulic pressure causes the valve of the hydraulic cylinder to open and the extended center column comes down. The wheel goes into a coast losing the centrifugal forces applied to the gondolas. The gondolas swing violently back and forth as the wheel comes down. Once the wheel is down it takes awhile for it to stop spinning because there is no hydraulic power, no breaks. The riders get off the ride quite shaken up and the near by bathrooms get a sudden surge of a high occupancy rate. Both ride supervisor and ride maintenance are notified and comes to the ride. The ride is checked and the circuit breakers are reset. If there was not a valid reason for the emergency stop you will be lucky if you get away with just not being permitted to operate the ride again.

Coasterfreaky,

I had this happen to me on the wave swinger at Carowinds a few years back before they removed it. It was pretty much the same as you described it, although not as bad, because for some reason it only stopped for a second then, started turning again ("Oops," said the operator). I was on the outside, so I slammed into the seat in front of me.

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/\ Jonathan Hawkins
Starcoasters.com | ThrillSpot
Howard Dean for President!

Angnjc, I was at SFStL on July 4 and remember that the Highland Fling was closed down late in the afternoon. It looked like the ride ops were cleaning out one of the carriages and later after it reopened, one carriage was blocked off to riders. Any idea what happened Angnjc?

Wasn't there on the 4th, but my best guess, having gone through simular circumstances, would be "ralph, chuck,doh" ;)

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Just a couple of G-Force junkies!

Haha Angnjc...kinda what I figured! I had a great ride on it.

I worked both the waveswinger and enterprise at Carowinds and had niether of those effect from the e-stop. We were told not to e-stop the enterprise after it raised to a certain hight because it took so long to stop,and the wave swinger would just quit its cycle and spin and you had to lower it and brake it manually(at the time it had manual brakes even on a normal cycle).

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JOHN
RCT INSOMNIACS
KIMBERLY LAKE INC.