Do all Sharwkoph loopers have extemely slow lifts like Laser @ Dorney Park?
Are higher lifts really long. In other words are lifts over 120 ft. like Hercules @ Dorney park slow and take a long time too get to the top?
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movies+coasters= the most fun you could ever imagine!
Some lifts have variable speeds to control blocking. I've especially noticed this on the Beast's lift which may start fast, almost stop until the block is clear, then speed up again just before you go over the top. Slowing is preferable to stopping the lift which may panick riders who think that they are stuck.
Most portables seem to have pretty slow lifts. A lift that moves half as fast needs a motor only half as large. When power is supplied as a temporary measure for a portable coaster, this is an advantage plus it wieghs less to move. If the coaster is later installed as a permanent coaster such as Laser, it is still necessary to keep the slow speed unless the whole lift is redesigned.
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"Duff Man Says... Ohhh Yeah!"
Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Dueling Dragons (Ice)
At the top of Mindbender at SFoG, (Schwarzkopf ) the 'lift fast' kicks out and the chain slows down again. This is to give the coaster a lower initial speed so it won't wear the structure as much (believe it or not).
Take new Raging Bull for example, at the dip at the top, there are sensors. Many people mistake these for trims, but they aren't. After the train passes them, the lift turns off. Not a bad idea, I bet it saves SFGAm a bundle of money on electricity, not that they are short on money with the bribe system for cutting in line they have. I'd imagine all new B&Ms (maybe not Nitro, as it has no dip, but I'm sure they got around it somehow) it's like that. For all I know, it might even do that on Iron Wolf, I've never payed attention.
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Sammy resides in a popcorn box 8 inches under as of 10/24 4:30PM. Sammy was my cockatiel.
Firstly, 'haha' at the line cutting system you mentioned... here at SFoG we have Lo-Q, and it is a tremendous thorn in our sides.
Anyway, Mindbender has a 'lift-fast' in addition to the lift-on and -off. The Georgia Scorcher slows down the lift and speeds it up automatically like a lot of new ones do.
MisterX said:
Some coasters in the SF system have 'lift fast' controls on them. I don't know if any other parks do this, or if the ride manufacturers make this standard on the ride. Essentially, when there is no train on the lift, the chain motor slows down, but when a coaster hits the lift it speeds up.
At the top of Mindbender at SFoG, (Schwarzkopf ) the 'lift fast' kicks out and the chain slows down again. This is to give the coaster a lower initial speed so it won't wear the structure as much (believe it or not).
Many coasters have the feature that you are talking about. I believe that the purpose is to lessen the forces when the train engages the chain without making the lift too slow.
Several coasters slow down near the top to limit train speed. At least one adjusts the speed over the top of the first hill based on circut times to control the forces on the passengers rather than the track.
The reason Mindbender slows at the top is in fact to lessen excessive force on the track, although no doubt other rides slow it down for rider's comfort. Mindbender has trim brakes throughout the ride for the same reason.
The tire-driven lift on PKI's Rugrats Runaway Reptar is cool. The individual sets of tires don't start spinning until the car is inches in front of them.
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