Sky Rocket topped off at Kennywood

Ever since day one they've been shooting for getting this open by ACE's convention which begins on fathers day. It's looking like that could still happen. I may just have to make a trip there on Fathers Day if it does in fact open. :)

kpjb said:
All the steel, design, controls, etc. are American made. The LSM system itself was subcontracted to a German company.

Interesting. Is Power Superconductor Applications still in business? They have built LIMs for Premier rides in the past, and as I recall they are (were?) practically in Kennywood's back yard!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Not sure. I think the company doing the LSM's is IntraSys. Don't quote me on that, though.

Test run video

I have to say, any kinks that need to be worked out aside (the 30 second pause on the MCBR for example), this more or less confirms my fears about the ride. It'll be fun, sure, but the 'surf curves' at the end look like filler slow boring filler (do we still use the term 'Raptoring around'?) and the air hills that follow aren't much better. Whatever happened to Kennywood coasters ending with a bang?

And I just don't get the first hill. How Premier ever settled on that over a traditional, non-braked hill I'll never understand. Oh well. The inversions look fluid and fun though, and again I'm sure it'll be a fun ride, but with the 'wood as my home park and knowing the space premiums they face, I just look at the layout and see SO much room for improvement.

It never ceases to amaze me how much people can diss a ride before a single human has ever been on it.

Seriously. Let's get out of the testing phase before judging it!

Yeah, I doubt that the stop on the MCBR was a 'kink'. They're testing the ride. Testing the MCBR is part of it. Most of the time you'll probably not be going quite as slow as that train was at the end, because the 2nd half was hampered by a stop on the MCBR, which normally shouldn't happen.

And I'm not going to complain about the brakes at the top. That could be a fun aspect of the ride.

I haven't met a launched Premier that I didn't like yet. I don't think I'll be disappointed with this one either.

There is no MCBR. The train can't stop there. Just some fins to slow it down. Not sure why they didn't make it more of a "cliffhanger" like the first one.

Probably gonna remove some of those fins until it loosens up a bit. Too slow through the second half was a common comment today.

But seriously, it's only made it around the course 5 or 6 times. It'll take a few more until it's in proper form.

I like it!
The second half of the ride will probably be a litter quicker in operation, it basically stalled on the block and hasn't been tuned yet.
Does anyone know the projected hourly capacity?

"Raptoring around" that's a funny analogy

There's no MCBR in the sense that there are no brakes capable of stopping the ride, but there is very definitely a Mid-Course Brake Run. Why a ride designed to run two trains and only two trains has a flat, non-block-creating brake run in the middle of its layout is one of those things I file under design decisions that I just don't understand.

And I don't see how my assessment of the design decisions is unreasonable, having ridden the ride or not. If you study roller coaster designs for long enough, it's really quite easy to predict what certain parts of a ride are going to feel like, well before a populated train ever runs on the course. Obviously I can't know for sure and will reserve final judgment until I get to ride it, but I stand by what I said. It looks like it'll be fun, but I think that with very minor tweaks to the layout there could have been a significantly better ride on its footprint. Simple as that.

You can consider it a MCBR if you wish, but I've never heard trims referred to in this way.

What do you consider the brakes on Magnum, Thunderbolt or Beast? I've never heard of them referred to as anything other than trims.

I'm going to refer to it as "the kpjb slide"..

JoshuaTBell said:
The second half of the ride will probably be a litter quicker in operation

Does that mean the length of the ride will be shortened by the amount of time it takes to deliver a litter of kittens? ;)

it basically stalled on the block and hasn't been tuned yet.

I don't think that's a block. It's just a trim.

kpjb said:
There is no MCBR. The train can't stop there. Just some fins to slow it down.

Now that's interesting. Any reason they put a long strip like that as a trim? I always thought it had a mid course.

Too slow through the second half was a common comment today.

Yeah, and if I were to judge the ride based on a few early test shots, I'd think that second half sucked, but seeing as how knowing it was slowed down on that long trim, it looked like it was going slower than intended. If it goes thru the second half a little faster, and those bunny hops give nice little pops of air, I'll be happy.

No idea why it was designed like that. I was under the impression that it was supposed to be a cliffhanger element going over the edge. Doesn't make much sense where it is, I agree.

On the same page there, as well.

Now that looks like something I would enjoy. After riding Top Thrill dragster and Maverick, these launch coasters are really growing on me. I also like the new inverted shuttles like Wicked Twister. It sure would be cool to have one at Michigan's Adventure. But, from what they have built lately, that is like wishing for a million dollars to arrive on your front porch incased in gold, with two angels hovering over it to protect it until you can get it safely to the bank.

I think it's cool that the launch runs parallel to the highway. Hope the train outruns traffic. (Also hope no idiots on the road decide to race the train and cause accidents.)

The one thing that makes me go "huh" is the drop after the flat section looks really shallow to me, almost like a drop on a Wild Mouse. Seemed like there was more to it in the schematics.

Kennywood just posted on Facebook a few minutes ago that they're looking at a June 25 opening to the public.

Wow, that's still ten days away. StR might make it yet....

Well ACE's last ERT session at the park will be the morning of the 23rd. I guess they won't have it open before they move on to the other host parks. That is unless it will be ready earlier and they aren't opening it to the GP until Friday. Though I wouldn't count on it.

Was there a first rider auction on this?