Intamin drop generations??

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coasterqueenTRN said:
That's a good point. Who originally made those?

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If you're referring to the parachute drop rides, those too were made by Intamin.

*** Edited 2/11/2004 8:14:16 PM UTC by Jeffrey Seifert***

Ahhh, OK. :-) I was reading up on those old parachute drops. :-) I think you are right, Jeffrey.

Brett, I still think the S&S Towers hold their own. I just see them more as "recreational" than "thrilling". I guess my favorite would be the Supreme Scream at Knott's. It's may not be the largest but for some reason it just "feels" the most thrilling.

The Demon Drop is just downright terrifying. I guess it has that "carny" feel to it, I dunno.

I did see the Demon Drop's car get "wedged" at the top one time! It was my very first trip to CP in high school. I guess that makes it more "dangerous" yet "irrestistible" nonetheless. From what I remember nobody was hurt, but it was a wild visual!

-Tina

True enough that SFoG's and SFGAdv's (both seem to have considerable downtime) were made by Intamin....

Now for the real puzzler...who built the original, the one from the World's Fair....and what's the current status of the supposed rehab of same?

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Jeffrey Seifert said:

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Ride of Steel said:
Ok

1st generations are like an elevator shack, which is usually about 100 feet and then drop down like a rollercoaster drop and you stop laying on your back. Its sorta hard to explain, and example is demon drop @ Cedar Point

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Actually I consider the parachute drop rides like those at SFOT, SFOG, and SFGad (and formerly Knott's) to be the first generation freefalls. They actually used to freefall when they were first built.

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They did? I heard that when I was a kid visiting SFoT, but thought it must be an urban legend / rumor. My google and CB search didn't yeild any pertinent info on the subject; did anyone ride one of these Parachute Drops when they "free-fell"? Why did they stop, if in fact they did fall freely? Inquiring minds want to know! Or if anybody finds a good link that I was unable to (prob. not too difficult) that would be great as well. Thanks!

^The Paradrops were not capable of freefalling. This is physically impossible since the cabin is still attached to a cable. If the cable drum would speed up to "freefall-speed" there should be a pulling cable under the cabin to stabilize the descending car. The parachute "brakes" the fall too, so it could never have reached freefall speed.

Especially the open standing cages would have been a deathtrap if the ride was freefalling and the riders would become weightless.

Nonetheless they used to be fascinating and beautiful rides. Its especially sad that Knott´s combo tower is no more.

Nitpicking on the first gen. Freefalls: They were fully built by Giovanola (that old Intamin/Gio story again :)))

Thanks tricktrack. Seemed a bit "fishy" to me.

I dont know why people blast S&S, personally I would rather be on a space shot of equal height then a intamin 3rd generation because you get more air on S&S. I like enjoy both models though.

However, I dont know why but I dont like turbo drops very much, cant put my finger on it but it seems like Im cheated out of something on one everytime I ride one.