Interview with Walter Bolliger

I didn't see this posted anywhere else so I thought I would pass it on. You can read it here.

The interview actually talks more about general design than Sheikra among other things. It also will hopefully put an end to the "B&M did the launch on Hulk" argument.

One thing I found sort of funny was the answer to a question about a rollback or stall.

Walter answers with, "We have had trains stop when the safety system said stop. But we have never had a train stuck or stop on its own."

Hmmmm. I guess he never was told about one rollback that happend on one coaster in 1997. =:^)

Anyway,it's a pretty good article that is worth readingn IMO. It actually explains quite a bit about why they do some of the things they do.

-Sean

. *** Edited 4/25/2005 12:35:51 AM UTC by Sean Flaharty***

That sure is interesting. You sure don't get to read somthing like that everyday.

---

Our coasters have always been about not pushing the limits. To us this is not about being the fastest or having the tallest lift hill. It's about creating sensations of flight that are enjoyable. I cannot speak for all our competition.

---

.. and the right hook connects...

Nice dig...

This might be the first time that a newspaper reporter actually had a clue as to what they were talking about. Bravo!

I agree Phantom. From an enthusiast's view, that article was pretty well written.

Bravo!! Bravo!!

Unless Claude was the one giving the interview. ;)

That was a nice article. I was always amazed by how smooth and majestic-like B&M coasters are and how they were created.

I was impressed with the way Walter answered some of the questions. Usually he doesn't say much and Claude does most of the talking when it comes to interviews.

I recently read another interview with Walter where he talked about why he thinks some people doesn't care much for wooden coasters.

-Sean

---

Sean Flaharty said - Hmmmm. I guess he never was told about one rollback that happend on one coaster in 1997. =:^)

---

What happened in 97?

Sean, can you tell me where to see this other interview? Thanks :).

Wow, that was a very enjoyable article. Too bad it wasn't just a few pages longer... ;)

I guess no one at Cedar Point told B&M about Raptor's roll back.

Great insite to B&M thought process with the tallest and fastest coaster

MrX,

Rumor has it that Mantis rolled back in 1997 during morning testing. Also, I believe Raptor rolled back that year as well due to high winds. I know it rolled back the first Wednesday it was open in 1994. I was there that day. =:^)

Gamfan,

Try this link:

http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBQ6R9UQ7E.html

I know there are plenty of people that don't agree with what Walter says about wooden coasters, but I do know of a few that do.

-Sean

Red Garter Rob brings up a great point from an earlier thread that werent we just discussing the fact that they should do something extreme to bring the coaster community to its knees to compete with the higher faster community. They enjoy doing what they are doing and it now shows they dont have to be flashy to be the best and imho they are the best at things they do entertaining everyone. Because we all know that people dont get on the TTD's of this world, they seem to be more oriented to having everyone ride their coasters.

So no Beemers have laterals? I guess I never noticed the trend but I really can't think of any hard laterals on a Beemer.

I believe what when he was refering to rides stopping when they are not supposed too, he's not refering to rollbacks. Rollbacks are part of the beast.

In reguards to this,

---

Bolliger wants people to get off SheiKra with smiles on their faces. Passengers on wooden coasters have a different feeling when they get off, he said. ``They feel brave that they survived, but never want to go on the ride again.''

---

Obviously he's been on SOB. ;) *** Edited 4/25/2005 9:09:03 AM UTC by Red Garter Rob***

^lol

That was a very well done article though. Its something that an enthusiast can look at and still find some interesting material, but a casual parkgoer can relate to as well.

I'm excited to hear that Sheikra is what Walter claims to be a second-generation dive machine, hopefully meaning that we will see a revival of interest in the concept.

I thought Oblivion had a great drop, but the length of the ride killed it for me. Shiekra seems to fix that problem quite nicely!

From the second linked article,
"In its short life, the company has built 59 roller coasters, helping pioneer such concepts as an inverted and multiple- loop roller coasters. In the small, competitive roller coaster world dominated by five major manufacturers, B&M has became one of the giants."

Since when was B&M a pioneer of multiple-loop coasters? Wasn't Arrow pioneering multiple loops with their mega looping coasters long before B&M?

Maybe they're referring to the different inversions that B&M designed. They pioneered a new wave of multiple looping coasters.

Up until B&M the vast majority of looping coasters just had loops and corkscrews. The mega loopers had batwings and there were a few other inversions out there as well (SFStL Ninja's sidewinder and heartline roll of the Ultratwisters). But it wasn't until B&M came along that we've got all the wonderful inversions that exist today.

On a different note, anybody else confused about the statement that Intamin is from Liechtenstein?

Mike - I've been to Vaduz, have you?

*** Edited 4/25/2005 6:35:25 PM UTC by Incidentalist***