Kings Dominion - Awesome Day

Just a question, does Intimidator 305 run 2 or 3 trains, and does it have good capacity?

It only has two, and often runs only one. But the crews kick butt, and really move the people through.

gamerguy said:

The point im making is that if a coaster doesn't go through inversions theres no reason there has to be OTSR on any coaster!

I agree. I've held that opinion for years (read the ensuing debate, it's entertaining).

Regardless, I don't see how I305's restraints hinder the ride. And yes, I did notice the trim, and it's obvious there would be more airtime in that last stretch than without it. But again, I don't think it, nor the restraints, make the ride significantly less enjoyable.

Vater said:

Regardless, I don't see how I305's restraints hinder the ride. And yes, I did notice the trim, and it's obvious there would be more airtime in that last stretch than without it. But again, I don't think it, nor the restraints, make the ride significantly less enjoyable.

I have to disagree with you on that issue, Have you ridden both KK and TTD, or Chiller at gradv with and without the OTSR's? Theres a big difference in rides when you just have a lapbar. I for one will never vote a coaster into a top 10 if it has OTSR! Maverick is another example of a great coaster that is ruined by crappy OTSR!

I'm well aware of the difference between lapbars and OTSRs.

According to sources Skyrush pulls -2g's. Now as for red outs that's also a function of duration or how long those g's are being pulled. I think someone on this site a long time ago when I-305 first came out found a graph displaying the average persons tolerance as a function of duration of the given g-force.

According to what sources? I find -2 a very hard to believe number. You're basically saying that a decently sized male is holding 400 lbs on the area where the thighs and the lap bar meet.

That is what the park claims according to some sources. I have looked it up myself and it's not on the website. Perhaps it was mentioned in an interview or something?

Honestly I'm as interested/skeptical as you. There is a reason I said "according to sources".

I wiki'd Skyrush, and it does say -2g. Granted all applicable grains of salt apply to Wikipedia....but I do believe it has as much "uplift force" as anything I've ridden, and find that number within 1 or 2 units of plausibility (another non-specific "data element").

There isn't a first drop too steep...
A lift hill so high that can keep...
Keep me awaaaaay...

Just look at that pic, friends. Below that beard is a hand extended to each one of us.

And that hand comes with the promise of coasterin' like you ain't never coastered before.

Come with us.

Come with us.

(fade out)

And you guys thought I was making everything up.

I'm still pretty sure that you did and I'm still pretty sure that -2g is not accurate.

-2 g's is considered dangerous according to nolimits. I'm with you about doubting skyrush's vertical g's.

Just had a thought (trying to reconcile the numbers).

Maybe, and this makes some sense to me, the number came from a misreading of "2g below normal" - which would result in a relative measure of -1g.

In math terms: 1g - 2g = -1g

-1 g's is certainly safe, yet still really intense.

T-Express at Everland is -1.2 according to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everland . I have no idea how they got that. I'm assuming that means El Toro is about the same. At night in the back row of El Toro on a hot summer day the Rolling Thunder hill is amazing, but if I were to guess it's still shy of negative one.

The most intense moment of negative gravity that I ever felt on a roller coaster was actually on KK. It requires 128 mph to go over the hill. Some times the train will over speed. I saw a documentary once that claimed TTD goes anywhere from 120-122 mph for that very reason. With the same logic I would imagine that KK can go 130 mph as it probably did on this one particular ride that I had. I was in the front row and had just gotten of El Toro where I was sitting in the back, and still the negative g's on the tophat felt more intense. I could see those being negative one.

Yes Tyler - quickness has to do with how fast the direction changes occur...in terms of physics angular velocity, expressed typically in "radians per second" (or degrees per second). To change direction at 3.0 degrees per second is a non-event - thats a standard rate turn in an airplane and it feels the same whether you are going 80mph in a Piper Cub or Mach 2.0 in a jet fighter.

Then you have roll rates - and in a high performance stunt plane this is upwards of 300 degrees per second - you can almost complete a roll in one second - and this will bounce your head off the canopy.

The "quickness" to which I am referring on Intimidator 305 is in reference to roll rate - and is the highest I've ever experienced on a coaster. El Toro also has unusually high roll rates in the low level, final section of the ride. B&M Inverted coasters, particularly the Batman Clones, also have high roll rates - but not as high as Intimidator 305. In fact - the roll rates were so high on Intimidator as to create the sensation of negative G's - from rolling around the longitudinal axis. Now if you understand what I just said then you'll understand what sets Intimidator apart from all other coasters at this point. Just my observation - it isn't really an opinion - but what is an opinion is my delight with this "new" experience on a coaster. And THATS why I rate Intimidator so high above Millenium Force.

Sorry to bore with technical descriptions...but if you want to qualify a remark about coasters and what makes one different from another - you have to talk in objective terms first, then apply the subjective reasoning. You can avoid a lot of the silly cat fights that way. I don't like cat fights - I like ROLLER COASTERS!!! Happy riding to ALL!!!

Anytime....RIDE ON!! ANd don't forget to write the designer when you like a creation - I always do.

Its very easy to calculate G force. All you have to do is get a fairly close measurement of the curvature of the track which can be ascertained fairly easily with videos, provide they are at the proper angle. All you do then is use a stop watch and measure the angular velocity. You then apply a very simple formula:

CF=V^2*R (Centrifugal Force=Velocity squared divided by the radius)

It doesn't take long to realize, even with a healthy margain of error, that negaitve 2.0 never happens on coaster. It MAY happen on some Flat Rides though...like the Zipper....but it is only instantaneous and not sustained.

Then again...if you want to know, just ask a designer. They know exactly what the forces are on the rides they design.

And finally, whomever it was that said it is also a factor of time....you are absolutely correct. That is precisely why the track was changed on Intimidator, to reduce the time the riders were subjected to High G Forces.