Flying Eagles Question

Having not ridden one since i was very small, i am curious as to what everyone means when they talk about "snapping" or something like that.

How is it done and what does it do?

Thanks

I'm also interested in hearing this in more detail, because I don't really understand having no memory of riding any flyers.

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|| Jonathan Hawkins ||
http://www.starcoasters.com
Top Gun: TJC flights - Approx. 220 (34 in 2002)

Snapping is getting the cables to go slack and then snap back as you go in the other direction. You must get the flyers really flying back and forth by using the rudder right and left all the way. I have found PKI's as the best for snapping.

Mike

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My Coaster Count: 146

NARSHK, NARSHK, NARSHK, NARSHK!!!!

Riverview Mike is right. You have to get the cables to slack, and then when you turn and go up, they snap. Imagine taking a belt and folding it. Then put the sides together so it bulges in the middle, and pull out really fast. That's pretty much what the flyers do. It takes a few rides to get the hang of it, but once you get it down, it is really fun. It's also funny to watch people who know what they are doing. A ride full of ACErs on those things is great.

In a nutshell...
The ride tub is basically a driven pendulum. It wants to oscillate at a particular frequency. You drive the pendulum into oscillation with the front sail. When you're just starting up, you want to use the sail to increase the amplitude of the swinging. That is, when the tub 'wants' to go up, you set the wing to fly outward; when it wants to go down, you set the sail to go down.

Now, if you just drive the pendulum motion, you can swing back and forth all day and never once snap the cable. The tricky bit is that once the tub is swinging, you vary the timing a bit. When the tub is still swinging upward, you use the sail to steer inward towards the center of the ride. If you're good at it, you can outrun the ride's natural motion a bit. What often happens when you do this is that you actually fly the tub in such a way that the cable is no longer carrying the weight of the tub. Trouble is, once that tension is gone, the forward motion...which is creating the air pressure that allows you to fly the tub...basically goes away, the tub stalls, and the ride catches up, pulling the slack out of the cables. A common reaction to that sudden jerk is to slingshot the tub skyward, and if you catch it just right, you can repeat the snap at the upper limit of the tub's swing.

That's the basics. The specifics come with practice. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

yeah they do..... Giot my first real "lesson" at last year's PPP...where I was fortunate enough to meet our very own "expert in the field". Dave, I really think what I'd like to do, when I win the lottery, is to buy Old Indiana and see how many rides we could bring back to life...

junkyard warriors, you have ten hours remaining....

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You can't spell S:UF without UF....Go Gators! Let the pretzel loop tie you in knots...

*** This post was edited by rollergator on 4/29/2002. ***

Me and Derek took about 30 rides on PKI's yesterday, We were happy when you joined in the noise making Dave :)

One thing I see many people doing wrong is simply not steering the direction the tub wants to go. If you are going outward, Turn the wind so it faces outward until it reaches its maximum amplitude, Now here is the trick, You want to DIVE as hard as possible all the way down, When you get to the bottom, turn the wing back outward! This serves two purposes, It acts a brake slowing the tub and allowing slack to build up in the cables, It also gets the tub facing backout so when the cables become taught it launches you. Of course the ride gose in a horizontal plane in a circle, The trick is to turn it into a VERTICLE experience :)

Chuck, who thinks PKI's are the best but if you have the finess with Knoebels, Knoebels' provide a increadible ride.

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Charles Nungester
Americana (Now called The great americana amusement park at Lesourdsville Lake) is opening in 2002. Indivdual visits are very improtant to the parks survival.

LOL rollergator! I always wanted to put a Corkscrew together! And to add to Dave's explanation: LOTS of practice! You will eventually be able to feel what is going on every second, and adjust to slight variations in wind and tub weight. I also find KI's to be the most consistent (plus the padded seat is nice :)). I have a VERY sore back from Knoebels yesterday! But it's a good hurt. :) Don't get me started on the 180º turns!
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Brad Sherman
Don't.....look.....back! The Headless Horseman awaits you in 2002!
Model coasters and rides

I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets a sore back at Knoebels. Between the Flyers and the Bumper cars I'm a hurting unit the entire summer. I guess thats what the off seasons for recooperation.

The little metal stops they added on the front of the tub didn't make a differance one bit. It's better than the little strips of rubber they had last year.

I found it hard to try to teach people to snap. It's just one of those things that just comes to you. Just like riding a bike.

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Hello, My name is Dan and I'm a coasterholic.

Chuck,

While turning the sail the other way at the bottom so it can be used for a brake works for a lot of people, I have found that by pointing the sail directly in the center of the tub while going down works even better at times depending on the wind and what not. I think it all depends on the circumstances. I have had sucess both ways but more sucess with the 'straight fin' way.

-Sean

Two weeks ago at PKI people swoar I was gonna dump myself out of the things. I had the tub almost upside down. Was amazing looking at the horrified looks of the peeps around the flyers LOL

The ride op even congratulated me, and this was only my second time on the eagles.

I will say I have no idea how to explain it other then you turn when you reach the highest or lowest point. when you do this you literally stall the things, the cables go slack as you get ahead of them, and when gravity takes over the cables "snap". It just has to be done I guess. heading backwards on the ride is fun too. Gotta say this is the greatest flat ride ever produced and it doesn't get me sick like all other spin and spews, the level of interation and difference in movement everytime has a lot to do with it I think.

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The Beast and Night, They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly

One time last year at Knoebels when I got off a few kids in line cheered for me and asked how I did that. I just told them about 13 years of pratice.

Another time when I got off another guest started to yell at me telling me I ruined his ride. I simply told him I had fun on it and I'll keep flying that way untill the ride op tells me about it. Then later in the day the op who was working the Flyers was at another ride and he told me he liked my flying and thought others should fly the way I do. Who'd think a ride op would encourage you to snap.

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Hello, My name is Dan and I'm a coasterholic.

Sean, I understand your manuvering, Everyone has a different style and sometimes depending on how the wind, and how the other people are flying it is hard to get started.

If the person in front of me just keeps wiggling back and forth, that creates a huge hole in the air. However if the person in front of me is flying up and down, NO PROBLEM!

Everyone has their own style,

One of the weirdest experiences I ever seen happened to me last year. A guy was waiting outside the fence watching his wife and daughter in the tub behind me. I started snapping hard and he then starts yelling super loud at the op to STOP THE RIDE, STOP THE RIDE! They did and I never seen ops take such abuse. I just told they guy and lady that I was sorry I scared them and then later came back and thanked the ops for being so understanding.

Chuck, who is glad that PKI put ratings on the rides this year. Flying Eagles is a 3

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Charles Nungester
Americana (Now called The great americana amusement park at Lesourdsville Lake) is opening in 2002. Indivdual visits are very improtant to the parks survival.

The interesting thing is that a lot of people just don't understand that it's an interactive ride...you have to fly the thing. So I've seen people get on after me either run for my tub, or afraid to get into my tub. Until they see me in another tub and realize it isn't the ride tub, it's the pilot that makes the difference... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Quote from PKI Opening Weekend:

"They'll have to pry the rudder from my cold, dead hand"

Nothing is more fun than watching the Flyer uninformed either complain to the operators that the ride is falling apart, or watching them run for the hills from the queue when there is lots o'snapping going on. Good times :)

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Scott W. Short
mailto:scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

The would just call them "Soaring Eagles" if it wasn't interactive....then it'd be just like the car ride...*yawn*. (Not that I don't enjoy the car ride, too, just in a different way...).

Arrow Guy, coasterpunk, and others - just want to make sure the pain in your back doesn't have anything to do with HSTC....loved the ride, certainly the most intense "kiddie coaster" out there....but it did leave me a bit sore...:):).

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Any resemblance between this post and humor is purely coincidental. No robots were harmed in the filming of this episode...The sarcasm filter default has been left ON for your enjoyment.

Looks like we need to schedule a ITOT for Eagles at CBuzzCon! By the way, I finally had my first snapping experience this past weekend. There's nothing like getting off the ride and looking back at the Boy Scouts' terrified faces, waiting to get on the ride... excellent.... :)

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Lotus Notes suck!!!

It's the Flyers for sure rollergator. It's the exact spot on my back where the tub ends. About a quarter of the way up my back. Usually after 5 or 6 good rides my back will be sore for about 3 days. The bad (or good) thing is by the time I'm feelimg good again I'm back down Knoebels on the Flyers again.

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rollergator, I should point out to you that REAL kiddie coasters don't have a 42" minimum height requirement.

High Speed Thrill Coaster does.

Therefore High Speed Thrill Coaster is not a kiddie coaster.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Someone just needs to get this on video.