Hyper/Looper

Doesn't Hershey's new rocket coaster count as a "big" looper? I'd say a 180' drop is pretty darn close to being called a hyper.

Gonchar: Think Vortex's Corkscrews.

rollergator: Hey , I'm not a sadist!;)

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I agree with your second statement though. Out 'n Back looper...Mmm......

There has been at least one multilooper built that had a camel back as an element, designed to give riders the experience of negative g's. It had some of the most violent transitions ever released to the coaster riding public.

The idea of a coaster that has hyper speed and looper elements isn't a bad one, perhaps the inverting elements could be placed in the last half/third of the ride, after the MCBR. Then they could be forceful or floaty, depending on how the brakes were set. It would be important, however, to keep from building it with so many inversions that it required OTSR's. Bunny hops + OTSR's = headbanging.

You make it sound like Bunny hops throw you around. Bunny hops are usually straight , thus, no side to side motion.

That comment about Drachen Fire doesn't make sense either. You seem to think that the negative-g hill caused some of the headbanging , where in fact , that couldn't have happened because it was perfectly straight.

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I don't understand your reasoning.....

Drachen Fire? Did somebody mention Drachen Fire? ;-)

Seriously, though, as I remember Drachen Fire, everytime the ride changed directions in any axis, if one were short(ish), then one's head met the OTSR's. Think about it: Negative G's mean your body will meet your restraint. Even if the coaster is not turning, your head may well hit the harness.

I think that would only happen because of the ride's maintenaince.

Theoretically , it doesn't seem logical that one's head could be thrust sideways when travelling in a straight line.

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Hey , I'm startin' to sound like a physics major.:)

Actually, that was my experience of the ride (which I enjoyed, but I rode it two of its first three years). As for the physics of the ride, IIRC, the front car slows down the most quickly when it encounters a hill (which is what inversions effectively are). I think this is why (for me anyway) the front seat is superior to the back on Superman at SFA -- of course, it helps that the trains don't slow down for the back to really get whipped over the hils after the first.

Seeing as the cars of the train are attached, the train slows down and speeds up as a unit. The difference is that the front of the train slows down while it's catching air whereas the back of the train speeds up while it's catching air. That's why you get more ejector up front and more floater in the back.

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thepinkdoomofmonkeys said:
I think that would only happen because of the ride's maintenaince.

Theoretically , it doesn't seem logical that one's head could be thrust sideways when travelling in a straight line.

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The human body isn't rigid. If one shoulder were to hit the OTSR before the other, there's every chance your neck would flex and you'd whack your head against the restraint.

CPs Corkscrew is a multilooper with bunny hop. The air is my favorite part of the ride.

How can anyone consider Alpengeist a snoozer? What kind of drugs are you people on to feel the intense G's on that ride. I ridden it in every seat at least two or three times and can claim the intensity is still maintained in the middle rows although it is lessened somewhat. The cobra roll practically whips you around and same with the zero G roll, How was this boring?

alp after the mcb is a snooze, everything before that was fast and fun as i can remember it.

I think the flaw with a looping hyper coaster is you probably would need to break it in two halfs, the hyper part, and the looper part.

I will also say that I think Steel Phantom's pain was more a result of it being an Arrow more so than it being a hyper coaster. I dont think I have ever ridden an Arrow looper without coming off with a sore nech or a headache of some sort.

Alpengeist isn't a bad ride, but intense? I don't think so. Those inversions are absolutely huge, and take longer to navigate, the net result being a lot less in the G department. Compare to the Batman clones, Talon, Raptor, the Dragons... most any other inverter. Alpengeist gets huge props for being visually impressive, but I find the first half to be kind of a snooze. Lots of speed, but little beyond that.

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sethman said:
How can anyone consider Alpengeist a snoozer? What kind of drugs are you people on...?

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I buy only the best drugs, thank you ;)

One of my favorite aspects of B&M inverteds is the "snap" of the elements. Alpie has none of the "snap".

And just because I like throwing numbers around...

I have 11 B&M Inverted coasters under my belt - Alpengeist sits very close to the bottom of that list.

What!! Aplie has none of the snap of a cobra roll?, Aplengeist has the most snap on a cobra roll and I've ridden all the good B&M inverts with cobra rolls. I just don't know how you can miss this snap since you can almost hear it from the Loch Ness Monster station.

BTW, Alpie ranks up there in my top 3 inverts, ahead of everything except Montu and Fire Dragon of Dueling Dragons. *** Edited 12/15/2003 4:53:14 AM UTC by sethman***

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Chaindog said:
Doesn't Hershey's new rocket coaster count as a "big" looper? I'd say a 180' drop is pretty darn close to being called a hyper.

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Close but no cigar. Viper at MM is also up there in height but isnt considered a hyper multilooper.

Seth, I do agree that Alpengiest has the most intense Cobra-roll. (It goes through at 58 mph...that's hella fast). But I am sure if they finagled a 0-g roll in the first half (instead of the vertical loop) it would be a much better ride. It would be a huge roll, but if Hulk can do it.....

No, it enters the roll at that speed, it sure as hell doesn't reach that speed at the top. Hulk is the best example anywhere of how boring giant inversions can be.

Heh, you just keep saying all the right things in this thread, Jeff.

Hulk is quite possibly the most overrated coaster I've ever ridden. That's not to say it's a bad ride, but it gets more credit than it should.

I never really made the connection until just now but there's two examples of coasters with big inversions and both left me less than awed.

And to just keep tossing arbitrary numbers out there:

I ranked coasters from 1 to 74 in Mitch's steel poll. Hulk came in at 27, Alpengeist at 33 on my ballot.

Just giving an idea of where these coasters stand in my book.

Why not a hyper that ends with a couple of Arrow style corkscrews. I'm only accustomed to the corkscrews at the end of Viper @ SFMM, but those give a nice little feeling of airtime at the top. A hyper that ended with those might actually work out kinda well. 'Course, that might entail OTSRs.

May we dream for one day when we get an LIM launch into a small loop at the top of a 250 foot drop...that could be impressive...