Pontchartrain Flyers at Six Flags New Orleans

This picture http://www.sixflagsneworleans.com/attract.cfm?attract=14 looks like a version of a Flyers/Flying Scooters. The last time I was at Jazzland, I wasn't a flat ride fanatic, and didn't get into flyers until I went to PKI. Anybody help me here? The double wing I KNOW is different, but are these snappable??

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I'm not an enthusiast, I just play one on message boards.

All I remember about these is that they go MUCH higher than the average flyer. I never managed to get any snap out of them.
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Pun is the death of wit.

Yeah, I remember the telescoping aspect, but wouldn't have known about snapping even if you could.

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I'm not an enthusiast, I just play one on message boards.

Oh, OK, sorry I didn't respond sooner, just getting into work. These aren't *flying skooters*, and they are NOT snappable. This is a Chance Aviator, we have one at WA....if you can snap one of THESE, then even the best flyer pilots in the world would be bowing to your mad skillz...;)
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Dr. Thrill IS my family practitioner
Would you just LOOK at what you've done to CoasterBuzz - you're going to have to clean it up ;)

Are the flyers at PKI the same as what used to be the Paratroopers at PKD - once upon a time in a Safari Land far far away...before they became Scream Weaver in Wayne's World, & then getting removed :(

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Pun is the death of wit.

The aviator ride is very uneventful.
The amount the wings are allowed to move isn't enough to move the tub which basically doesn't sway any more than back and forth, plus the ride rotates too quickly and the suspented cables to hold the tubs are way too short

Over all, its a good family ride, since the average rider doesnt know the art of snapping
*** This post was edited by john peck 3/8/2003 3:54:44 AM ***

At the risk of sounding stupid ,what is "snapping"? Living where I do,there aren't any of these rides around here.

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Lets' save the Vancouver PNE Coaster before its'too late!

Actually, at least on the ones I rode (Wild Adventures and Kings Dominion) the Aviator tubes are ABSOLUTELY non-snappable because they do not use cables to suspend the tubs. Instead, the suspension is from rigid rods with a flexible connection at each end. The tubs are very heavy, but the dual wing should easily compensate for that.

Ronald, on a Bish-Rocco Flying Scooter (or presumably also on the Larson model at Great America...) you can get the tub swinging in and out in such a way that through careful control, you can actually fly the tub away from the end of the suspension cable, thus introducing slack in the cable. Thing is, when the cable goes slack, you lose forward momentum which kills the aerodynamics and the rotation of the ride and gravity take over. The tub falls with a 'thud' until it hits the end of the cable.

I have a pretty good video of this happening, but it is not encoded very well. Tell you what: Over the weekend I'll encode the video, showing a bunch of skilled/crazy Flying Scooter pilots on the ride at Kings Island, and on Monday I'll put it where you can download and watch it.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I think I recognize the ride in question, Pontchartrain flyers is the same ride as Nickelodeon Space Surfer down @ PKD.

I've never ridden it as of yet so I'm not sure if it's worth standing in line foror not.ThemeDesigner as far as I can recall PKD still has their flying scooter ride,it was called screamweaver back in the wayne's world era but it's now known as Flying eagles & as far as I know is still on the same spot between Ricochet & HS:XLC,I do remember quite fondly the days when Parrottroopers was still at the park,it was located in the congo section & when at full tilt would swing right over lake charles.

Okay, as pointed out above, the PFlyers @ SFNO is a Chance Aviator like the Nick Sky Surfer @ PKD. The Sky Sufer was a fun ride and a nice way to catch a "bird's eye" view of the park, but it is nowhere near a "thrill" ride. When I rode, there were mainly pre-teens riding, some with parents some without. Fun but nothing special.

As for the former 'Screamweaver' @ PKD, they *did* make a return in 2001 as "Flying Eagles". They are now located across from the entrance to Grizzly. They are an 'aiight' ride. But since I do not believe I've ever even *seen* snapping, I think they, like all the other flyers I've encountered, are lame. Personally, I chalk up their popularity to "romanticism". But of course, YMMV.

lata, jeremy

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"I will break away, I'll find myself today"

The rudders on the SFNO Pontchatrain Flyers provide altitude change but it is gradual and anemic.

Jim Wolgamuth
OW op

Yeah, Batmanfan, that's what I'm talkin' bout. That swing out over the lake was sooo sweet, back when Lake Charles was unpolluted by snakes and waterparks (there was just that one snake over on the east bank.)
Remember, there was also that little clump (or was it one?) of trees that just brushed the bottom of the cars.
The difference between Paratroopers and Scream Weaver was astronomical. Location location location.
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Pun is the death of wit.

PKD's Flying Eagles should be AWESOME, potentially better than the ones at PKI based on the motion I was able to get from the tub. Sadly, the operator pre-emptively warned us not to bounce the tubs around, so I had to fly conservatively that day. Such a pity. Unfettered by such rules, I could probably have had that thing doing corkscrews!

PKI, on the other hand, has a wonderful, ancient set of Flying Scooters that may well be the best ones around for skilled pilots. They're slightly less responsive than the ones at PKD, but operationally there are no sanctions for aerobatics. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr., Scooter Pilot

If I hadn't been stopped from snapping, PKD's was quite obviously snappable...I had just gotten a good bit of slack when the op reminded of his previous warning..."No bumping". Well, I *did* try to play stupid, but with these glasses on I guess he knew better...One snap and I had to *strighten up and fly right*, so to speak...;)

bill, who desperately hopes that ACE Con will have some snapping, parks could feed me cardboard pizza and I'd be happy as a clam with *good* ERT and well-staffed, well- run rides...but that might JUST be me...I can eat AT HOME, I can't snap a set of flyers, though...

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Dr. Thrill IS my family practitioner
Would you just LOOK at what you've done to CoasterBuzz - you're going to have to clean it up ;)

LMAO ThemeDesigner, your last post was ohh so ripe with humor.

"Back when lake charles was unpolluted by snakes or waterparks(there was that one snake over on the east bank)" man that's just too rich:) :) , as for a clump of grass under the old paratroopers ride I certainly don't recall there ever being one but then again it's been well over 20 years since the ride once stood on the spot.

20 YEARS?!?
(sob)
Man, I feel sooo old.

btw, BFSA, trees, man, trees. Not grass.
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Pun is the death of wit.

Jeremy, SEEING the snapping changes one's perception. The Flying Eagles at PKI is the most terrifying experience I've had a park that didn't include a near-death experience *ahem Ga Cyclone*.

Snapping just SEEMS soooo wrong, you're sure your goose, er gator is cooked, like UF this Saturday.

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I'm not an enthusiast, I just play one on message boards.
*** This post was edited by Homey G. 3/7/2003 5:00:57 PM ***

Careful there Brian....I *know* it ain't gonna be pretty, esp. with Matt Bonner hurt, but we'll face UK at least once more in the SEC tourney, and maybe even again in April...

edit: Snapping is the scariest flat-ride experience there is....until you hit the *wrong* side of a SkyScraper...
*** This post was edited by rollergator 3/7/2003 5:08:14 PM ***

Where are there snappable flyers? I've just gotten into the art, so I've been looking around for 'em. I know Knoebel's and I guess from the conversation, PKI and PKD. Does SFA have some? I thought I saw 'em in Robb Alvey's 2001 vid.

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Be polite and ignore the idiots. - rollergator
"faster, cheaper, and more often" that's somebody's new sig -UpsideDawnGrrrl
My shirt in my photo seems to be for "Aging Bull"

Nope,SFA doesn't have flyers as of yet :( & about the parrotrooper trees,you may be right there,like I said it's been a long time since I last saw that ride in it's original location & the landscape has changed way too much there since then.