"Gray-Outs" on Coasters
I have heard people reporting "gray-outs" on certain coasters. All of them seem to share common symptoms such as seeing "stars", haziness or complete loss of peripheral vision, or just a general "fuzzy" feeling in the head.
One thing that I found interesting is that all the cases I've read occured either on the helix of a coaster, or descending from a vertical loop. They also reported that these sensations stopped as soon as that particular portion of the ride had ended.
Has anyone else here encountered such things? On what coasters & elements thereof? Is there such a thing as G-force tolerance that's greater in one human body over another? What are your thoughts?
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|| Jonathan Hawkins ||
http://www.starcoasters.com
Top Gun: TJC flights - Approx. 287 (101 in 2002)
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This season:
1 park
15 rides
About 5 times out of 10, on Thunderbolt, the old rough double looper at Dreamworld, I experience this. I suspect it is experienced by almost everyone on this ride, as I know I've got greater g-force tolerance than most people.
On this ride, it isn't purely caused by the near-circular loops. Rather, the roughness (track joins that aren't straight, and non-existant suspension system on trains, with wrongly aligned wheels), combined with the unique restraint system that pins you down, hard and tightly. I'll just give you a tour of the restraints.
They consist of smaller than usual OTSR, which only reach about the middle of my ribs. The axis is down lower than most rides, and so it presses against most peoples shoulders. Taller people (I'm something like 5'10") find that they've got the bottom of the restraint against their uppper chest. Regardless of size, you'll find yourself pinned down to the seats, which aren't padded.
Anyway, this "pinned-downness" combined with roughness and positive Gs in the 5s causes a very painful experience. You can feel your eyeballs bumping around. It gives me a short headache until after the loops, where it is usually alright.
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So what if the best coaster in Australia is a second hand Arrow?
I happened to me on the first flat turn on Millenium Force. It was so fast and latreral that I saw little stars. Wow what a great ride.
(BTW-This is a topic about graying-out. Don't changr it to the topic of Millenium Force.)
I had a grey out on Shockwave at SFGAm. Very minor, but it kind of scared me. I was like, "Agh! I can't see!" lol It was a combination of the sun being in my eyes while doing all those loops in a row that did it for me.
By the way, Millennium is spelled with 2 n's. :)
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-Eric
Indiana Beach Online | LoCoSuMo Count: 1
*** This post was edited by Glitch01 on 6/21/2002. ***
I have grayed out on Apollo's Chariot during the helix and on Alpengeist coming out of the first loop. It has also happened to me during the helix on Superman Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. Interestingly, it only happened to me on one ride out of several on Superman.
In all cases my vision became dimmer as the g-forces increased and then my vision normalized gradually as the g-forces decreased, all in a matter of a few seconds.
Does anyone know if this has ever caused anyone to completely black out or have some other serious problem beyond the seemingly harmless graying out that many of us have experienced?
The vertical loop on X Flight ....now i know to breathe and prepare myself, but the first time i rode that thing, i blacked out coming out of the loop, because we were riding in the back car, and the G's were INCREDIBLE. And im not talking about seeing grey, im talking it was pure BLACK !!! :)
And i posted this on another thread, but Millenium Force made me see stars and planets at the bottom of the first drop, right before the overbanked turn.
You guys might laugh,but one that gets me every single time, and i dont know why, is Face Off at PKI. When the train enters the cobra roll *&(#&^$ thats what i see in front of my eyes...LOL
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Lake Compounce-So Fresh and So Clean Clean
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Good Times!! Good Times!!
-Patrick
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KoRn is the Mellennium Force of ROCK
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cdrpointcrazy4, If people misspelling the name of a coaster upsets you enough to make a post about it, you need to get out more. It's just a name.
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Nothing... NOTHING... can prepare you for... the Fourth Dimension!
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HuKeD oNN fonickS dusinT wOrK"[;.
My first ride on MF, I blacked out from the first drop until the bottom of the 2nd hill..I don't know why and I can't remember that part of the ride..I remember going up the lift hill and looking out at the bay and lake, and then I remember coasting over to MF island and the ride back..that's it...:(
So when I go Tuesday, hopefully it doesn't happen again.
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