PKI's Bat

Does anyone know where I can get more information or pictures of PKI's big mistake, The Bat? I hear that it was an incredible coaster, but that it was almost always broken down. What was wrong with it? Did it injure people? What's the deal? A coaster has to be pretty bad for a park to completely rip it out after only 3 years. Can anybody inform me or at least lead me to a website with pictures and/or info?

It wasn't really much of a mistake. It was a wicked coaster. It never injured anyone. The only bad part was that it's 30% down-time was not satisfactory, so they removed. It's main problems were that the brakes were on the bottom, the lacking of banked turns (at the start), and a few other minor kinks. There are a few good places to get info and pics. However, the best one isn't up yet, and I can't give out the temp. link, so go to www.coasterguide.com for some good pics and info.

You can also go here: http://members.iquest.net/~davel/bat.html
There is information and a few pics too.
This really was an amazing coaster and it's a shame that it's gone. :-(
-JJ

I would say that The Bat was actually better to ride at night than The Beast if you can believe that! hehe *** This post was edited by JJFang on 10/10/2000. ***

The design was a huge mistake! The track wasn't banked at all, so try to imagine pulling the track sideways and putting all of those G's on one rail. Not good.

If that wasn't bad enough, imagine trying to stop the heaviest part of the train, the bogie with wheel assembly, by the lighter portion of the train (the bottom). Imagine stopping your car by the top of a pole sticking ten feet over your car.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Great photos gang. Wow! It looks like it had to be one of the best suspended coasters, if not the best. Looks like a long duration and a great layout. It's a shame they couldn't get it under control.

You guys already posted the two sites that I knew about with pictures and information about the Bat but in regards to the down-time and maintenance, I read somewhere that it almost caused Arrow Dynamics to go bankrupt and required a maintenance staff on hand all the time.

WOW I want to ride it! This looks like one awesome ride. Yeah, the track wasn't banked, but imagine the incredible swing that would have caused on the cars! The layout and the theming were awesome! I love those trains. I wonder if the ride could be reconstructed somewhere only with a modern suspended braking system and maybe a little bank on the turns to keep the cars from swinging 90 degrees and beyond!

And I always thought the station to Vortex was a little odd looking for a steel looper named "Vortex." Now I know why, it was the station used for The Bat!

Yeah, I remember thinking when Vortex was new, that the station didn't look new. I only go to PKI every three years or so, but this past summer I finally figured out that it was used for The Bat.

I agree MooreOn, they need to clone this ride somewhere, only with banked turns. Arrow could use the business anyways.

I'm wondering just how good The Bat would actually be now if it were rebuilt. It wasn't terribly big or fast, it was just a completely new experience for riders back then... It may not compare well to a modern suspended like Top Gun, or even Big Bad Wolf (which isn't really "modern", I'll admit.)

I'm still somewhat surprised that Busch Gardens had Arrow complete this ride for them after the Bat fiasco. Big Bad Wolf is an AWESOME ride and I'm glad it was built, but I AM impressed that Busch took the risk, even if Arrow was saying they'd learned from their mistakes. The fact that it had already been started probably helped, though...

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--Greg

http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/ *** This post was edited by GregLeg on 10/11/2000. ***

I am afraid that The Bat was both big and fast, GregLeg. Note the 2 lift hills, making it about twice as long as the average suspended. One hill was just a bit over 100 feet, about 102, I think. The other was 90 feet or there about. Last time I checked, a 100 foot drop on a steel coaster (suspended or not) produces a pretty fast ride. If The Bat were ever to fly again, I would be very impressed with the park that decided to do so. I would be the first in line since my first visit to King's Island was in 1984, The Bat stood, but did not fly.

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Gotta ride 'em all!

I rode the Bat but I was young. But it was an awesome experience. It was very fast. And I am not sure of this but I did here that there was a fatality on the Bat. And that it did happen on the unbanked turns.

There was no death, and nothing but minor injuries such as a bruise or two at worst. Also, Arrow tried lots of stuff to help it out, such as banking the turns, modifing the braking system, etc., but to no avail. I really wish PKI would reconstruct it.

But they put in good one in with Top Gun. I just wish it were longer.

i thought it was so cool that they used the loading station for vortex man i wish i was born 15 years earlyer

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Cause I am whatever you say I am if I wasn't then why would I say I am.

I was also one of the many to think they tore it down because I heard that the train flew off the tracks. BUt I figured that that was a myth so I was happy to hear the true reason for the closure.

One of my teachers in dead set on claiming that it flew off the track, and if I try to plead my case, he won' even listen.