Kingda Ka Construction Update

Breaks will enhance the ride? How is that? Does it feel like airtime when your body is still moving forward on a speed hill while the train is slowing down? I know it is probably apples and oranges but the breaks on Hypersonic's speed hill did nothing for the ride.

I do understand that they are needed however since that hill is the breakrun. If you need to have a break run, and you do, might as well try to make it fun. What I don't like is the breaks on the tophat. Way to ruin the highest drop in the world. Yeah, yeah, I know I have not ridden it yet but I checked my list of awesome first hill breaks and I think I won't like it. The forces on Dragster are awesome with the sustained air all the way down with the whip on the twist. I hope that break does not slow it down too much.

How do you know that those brakes on the top hat will take a way from the ride?

They are probably there because of the changes of the launch system. IF i am not mistaken the launch goes farther then the one on ttd. They could be there because there is more speed going over the top hat so they had to slow it down a little.

WAIT.

UNTIL.

THE.

RIDE.

OPENS.

BEFORE.

YOU.

JUDGE.

WHY.

WHEN.

PEOPLE.

WILL.

STILL.

DO.

IT.

ANYWAY.

EH? ;)

That sounds about right ubrhino. I was just trying to point out that just because the brakes are are there doesnt mean it is going to subtract from the ride.

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UBRhino said:
majortom1981: The coaster is a lot higher...

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Sorry, this was bugging me. It's only about ONE train length taller than TTD, which is around 36 feet. No offense, but I wouldn't consider that a lot higher.

Especially when you're 400+ feet up to begin with. I figure that once you pass 300 feet in height, anything under 50 feet, or more like 100 feet, doesn't make much difference.

Um...the brakes at the top are static (as opposed to dynamic, not as opposed to magnetic or friction). There's no control at all.

The launch mechanism is almost certainly the exact same one used for TTD (control-wise, at least) because it's going to need to account for the same kinds of variables, most notably added weight from passengers.

Dollars to donuts says the brakes are just up there to give you a little more time to appreciate the height of the ride. I know in my two rides on TTD, I was in the brake run before my mind even registered the launch, let alone the 420'.

The brakes at the top are actually an easy solution to a big problem. Back in 2003 I had a few discussions with maintainers about TTD many hiccups, and they said that for te most part it was do to computer generated errors, having to do with the launch, and the reason that was such a big deal is because there is when you do a 180 degree change in incline in such a small space ,I.E. the top of an Intimin rocket, the margin of error between go too slow and getting a "roll back" and going to fast and breaking necks is VERY small, and the computer has to adjust launch speed based on load wait. Obviously breaks at the top allow the train to shoot faster safely, or more preciously it allow you to shoot at constant force level regarless of load, while still reliably clearing the tower but not risking fliping over the top above unsafe velocity. Anyway, that my two cents, but it is important to note, that no coaster engineers hang out here, so it's all just speculation, but all and all it's reasonable to expect to see so design diffrences since TTD, or you could expect to see just as much first year down time...

What makes you think no coaster engineers hang out here? I know for a fact that at least one maintanence staff member hands out here.

I would be inclined to agree with you about the brakes at the top except that the first car (the one that will undergo the greatest acceleration at the peak of the hill) is well past the most intense part of the track before it even touches the brakes. This might help the back car navigate a bit less intensely, but I don't think the front car is going to see much difference.

What makes you think no coaster engineers hang out here? I know for a fact that at least one maintanence staff member hands out here.

At least one engineer from S&S reads and posts here. While not exclusively engineers you can also add employees from GCI and Zamperla to the list.

Andy's right... those brakes are way over the top at the point where the front car is beyond its highest negative G's.

You'd be surprised at who is a registered member on this site...

Yeah, like me. And I am important, dammit! :)

Joe "oh yeah and Kingda Ka looks dope, too" C.

Any famous people, Jeff?

Besides Keith and Joe?

CoasterWife posts here....and GCI's rock!

But this is about KK, (which is a steelie, LOL)and I'm hopeful it'll be open when I get to Joisey...in August! Construction is one thing, New Jersey state governemt is another.....Tsunami was JUST as bad with loading procedures as Gwazi....but I know it isn't REQUIRED on Gwazi...;)

bill, wondering what the coaster maintenance guy here is "handing out"...:)

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Jeff said:
Andy's right... those brakes are way over the top at the point where the front car is beyond its highest negative G's.

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It's not really the front seat that they are worried about. Even with the "overlaunch" that they seem to be implementing on Ka, the negative G's are not going to be too high on the ascent. Yes, they are going to be more intense than TTD, but still nothing dangerous. The only real problem would be when the back seat is whipped over the top. So to counter this they added the trim brake. Even though the front will have a good amount of negative G's on the ascent, there really is no whip effect which is why they only added the brakes after the apex. It's all about controlling that whip from the backseat.

One thing is for sure, cresting that tophat in the front seat is going to be awesome! :) *** Edited 3/15/2005 7:32:43 AM UTC by MrX***

Top Thrill Dragster gave me the ride of my life back in May of 2003. The Theming was still present at the time, and it was my first ride. I admit, I was pretty nervous and so was the friend I was with. Watching the trains go over, it was noteable that they were cresting wildly ranging speeds. A few rollback, several patches of downtime upto 45 minutes in length. Watching the trains move around, there was only one train moving at a time. Pretty slow if you ask me. We took a right to the second load station. After seeing that waiting was allowed for any row, we choose the last row, #8. Watching our train roll into position, my friend nervously joked "Our train is down a cylinder, maybe we'll get a rollback." A spark plug cable on the engine mockup's distributor had come loose. I took the station side. Then secured myself tightly with the seatbelt and lapbar. The ride host checked the seatbelt and gave the lapbar a push. Though wasn't very hard given the average ride I've had on it. After all the hosts gave there clears, we hear the usual "clear." We waited as the train in front of us proceeded to the launch position. Then we began to move to the transfer track to wait some more. Watching the train in front of us launch was quite a sight. It made it over then we immediately proceeded to the launch position. At this point I had only been on one other launched roller coaster, Incredable Hulk. Shortly after we rolled back a few inches then heard the brakes lower. There was a dead pause as the countdown began. My head was firmly planted on the headrest. My arms went up in the air. WHAM! we were off. I was forced into my seat much harder than I though I would be. My arms had strain on them but not to the point of pain. This launch maintained force for the full 4 seconds. Having a large amount of prior knowlege of the system, that didn't come as a suprise to me. I was thrown off by how fast I was going. It was incredible. Then we hit the pullup. This part pulls some monster G-Forces but you can't feel it as much as on other rides since it's brief. Going up for seemingly forever, I was watching as particles in the spotlights were bluring by. Then the train starting to curve on the 420' tophat. I quickly started to feel the Negitive G forces of that hill. It was average at first but quickly and smoothly gained force. Before reaching the peak, I started to feel some pain in my legs where the lapbar was. The force kept increasing. Harder and harder as my row started going down the drop. The pain had become very intense. Then it finally let off then twisted down the drop then leveled out into the brakes. The ride shut itself down as noted by the brakes at the end of the run not going down. We slowly rolled untill we finally stopped on the first drive tire in the second hold block. I've rode Mangum many times including fully loaded on a warm day trims off, but it didn't compare at all. I don't get the feeling of being thrown out of my seat like some do on certain coasters. TTD gave me the feeling like I was going to be ripped out of my seat. It was pulling at least -2 G's on that ride. I've rode it over 100 times since then and I haven't had a single ride nearly as intense as that ride.

With brakes where Kingda Ka has them the trains can safely crest the hill at high speeds. The advantage is that the speed bias has a little bit more room so there is less of an aggresive jump from one step to the next. TTD had to wait untill the train was at high risk of rolling back before it was able to step the pressure up a notch. It it failed to do that, the train would be launched at excessive speed shutting the ride down. This was the case on my first ride. If the speed bias can step up sooner, then there is a much less risk of rollbacks or overspeeds. There will likely be both while the ride is being adjusted, but nothing like TTD had initially.

If the weather is too cold and windy, the speed bias will max out. It might take many rollbacks before the wheels are warm enough to make it over, then the next train has cold wheels too. There are nights when it's almost impossible to get the ride running. Cedar Point added an amemometer and watched the weather. They know when better when it will take a few launches to get the ride running consistantly or not. Then they can simply shut the ride down if needed. This is so less people will wait and not get a ride.

I hope that Kingda Ka has a lot less downtime then TTD had. The train movements appear to have been greatly reduced in complexity. Less drive tires and none on sharply curved track means the trains should sail smoothly. The mods to the hydraulics seem to improve life of the pumps. There seems to be many more hoses placed to dump the accumulators during Emergency stops. This will lower damage to the pumps and motors from air bubbles after such events. The larger hydraulic room will make for easier replacement of pumps and motors when they do wear out. This is simply from looking at the hydraulics. The results may vary.

I've wondered more than once why the just don't put a tire drive over the top of TTD and KingDa Ka. Only a few tires should be enough to regulate the speed either up or down accordingly, preventing most rollbacks.

I've asked that a few times, Richard, and they always gave me some non-sensical response.