Hands Up=Too Much Wind Resistance on TTD?

Sitting in the second car and watching the train in front of us roll back 4 times in a row brought up a good question: would a trainful of people with their arms in the air be enough to keep TTD from making it all the way over? On Friday night it was having a lot of trouble and whenever it did make it over the hill, it would do so barely. So if most of people (who are wearing long-sleeved shirts) hold their arms up on the launch, and the train just barely stalls at the top, could that be a difference maker?

I dunno if that'd be to much of a problem, but friday night had winds basically coming right at TTD, I know they did shut it down for awhile due to weather, I've seen the wind affect it numerous times this year. Makes me think if they would of built it to launch from the other side if it would run better since the winds generally come out of the west most of the time. But what do I know I'm not a coaster designer nor and engineer.

Interestingly enough, Xcelerator has about a 2 MPH range between rolling back and going too fast, which causes an error.

It doesn't seem like TTD is so sensitive, at least not according to the radar gun sign....

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The Trip: CP, SFWoA, PKI, KW, HW, IB, SFGAm, MiA and LeSourdsville too.
8 Days- 10 parks. May 2003

I doubt 2mph would make that much of a difference.

No. Arms up or down, it does not make a difference. Friday was just a cold and windy day. When it's cold, Top Thrill Dragster is going to roll back, especially if the trains are not cycling too much. When the wheels are cold, it's going to roll back.

I've seen trains with every person holding their arms up and it flies over the top.

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2003 Raptor Rides: 246
Raptor Rules the Sky!

No. The "Arms Down" policy refers to the park making sure that no one dislocates their shoulder on launch. (I guess they had a few injuries on Xcellorator)

No, the arms made no difference. That 4 in a row you're talking about and all the test trains that didn't make it before they loaded that train up were completely wind related. It was kind of comical, you could see it had more than enough speed, was running just like it always does, powering up the vertical, twists, the nose begins to crest the top ...

and its like the thing hits a brick wall! My girlfriend and I just sat on the benches by Magnum and laughed at it. Saturday and Sunday were much better days anyway (used our CoasterMania Freeways and pissed off about 2 hours worth of people Saturday night and the park was empty on Sunday)

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Brett
Resident Launch Whore

Impulse-ive said:

(used our CoasterMania Freeways and pissed off about 2 hours worth of people Saturday night).

Interesting that you said that because at 10:30 we were at MF debating on whether or not to wait on the 1 3/4 hour line when 4 people came up and gave us 4 of those passes. We were in complete shock. We were just about to blow it off and possibly leave, but they saved us BIG TIME.
*** This post was edited by Bakeman 9/22/2003 1:40:56 PM ***

Yes, it could slow down barely. Not near enough to stall it or make a rollback. But, the trains on TTD have huge seats, so also not much of your arms go above the seats.

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"If you're thirsty, it's too late to go get a drink." Chinese Proverb

Compared to the normal wind resistance of the train, and just the amount of weight and power you're talking about, I think it'd be pretty difficult for some arms to slow it down very much at all. Those rollbacks were due to the around 30 mph winds that were rolling through the park all night.

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CP 2K3: 19
"What are you, a dentist? Or a hippie? Or some kind of hippie dentist?" -strong bad

kRaXLeRidAh said:
I doubt 2mph would make that much of a difference.

In Amusemment Today Kinsel said that 119-120 is a rollback, they shoot for 122, and at 123 the computer gives a high speed wanring.

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- "I used to be in the audio/visual club, but I was kicked out because of my views on Vietnam........and I was stealing projectors" - Homer Simpson

"STUPID" it goes 40 mph on top of the hill!
THE DRAG ISN'T THAT SUBSTANCHILE

I CAN'T SPELL SO DEAL WITH IT
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Nothing Like a BarrollRoll!

I was on the rollback with the blue train (the one where it broke just about to launch) in the front seat. Who knows what was going on, we never launched, the had to reset the computer or something, we launched rolled back, the brakes never dropped so we crawled into the launch area, and we waited again. We must of been on the ride for 40mins or so, but it was a blast! I would of been mad though If i was the next ride out ^_^

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Six Flags Worlds of Adventure Online

B@rrollroll said:
"STUPID" it goes 40 mph on top of the hill!
THE DRAG ISN'T THAT SUBSTANCHILE
I CAN'T SPELL SO DEAL WITH IT
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Nothing Like a BarrollRoll!

Okay. First off, we don't have to "deal" with your spelling. The TOS clearly states that proper grammar and spelling are expected. It also states that all caps in not acceptable. "STUPID" is also not a useful thing to say.

Finally, the train does not go 40 MPH over the top of the hill. 120 MPH is 176 f/s. The tower height is 400'. In the frictionless, ideal situation, the final speed of the train at the top is: 62 f/s which is 42 MPH. Throw friction in and you're going to be coming over at much less than 40 MPH.

And just for your information, it's spelled substantial.
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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"It's not a Toomer" - Arnold Schwartzenkoph
"Those who know don't talk and those who talk don't know." -Jeff
*** This post was edited by ApolloAndy 9/22/2003 9:16:00 PM ***

Can ya explain how the rollback felt, Steve? I've always wanted to know what it would feel like to be on TTD when it failed to crest the hill.

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"You're afraid of heights, but you love roller coasters...yep, you're weird alright."
A friend's response to my constant yelling at the top of Power Tower. And I'll ride it again and again...:)

Um, just play the view you have of going over the top into reverse in your mind. ;)

john peck said:
No. The "Arms Down" policy refers to the park making sure that no one dislocates their shoulder on launch. (I guess they had a few injuries on Xcellorator)

Xcelerator has had that policy since its debut as well. TTD, the same - not because Xcelerator had injuries, so they happen to decided to add that bit. The park(s) were smart enough to figure that out for a ride that takes off from a stand-still to 81mph in approximately 2.3 seconds would require riders to keep hands down.

ThunderStorm said:
Can ya explain how the rollback felt, Steve? I've always wanted to know what it would feel like to be on TTD when it failed to crest the hill.

Ahh it was amazing.. It was so unique. The best part I remember is the airtime, then the sudden twist.. Plus the view going backwards is fun ^_^

Other that that, the best part is launching again, IMO the best part of the ride..

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Six Flags Worlds of Adventure Online

He heh.....

Heh heh heh heh!

Uh...goodnight y'all. Gotta go ride all them lovely dreamland coasters. ;)

I'll face the wrath tomorrow.
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"I go out at 3 o' clock for a quart of milk and come home to my son treating his body like an amusement park!" - Estelle Costanza

I just don't think people's arms being up causes rollbacks, I mean there are lots of launched coasters around the world and you dont hear about them not making it through thier courses just because too many people on the train had thier arms up.

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=brandon=