Spin n' Pukes

This is really more of a question to those that might understand the physics behind them. I'm wondering why certain flats with laterals make me horribly sick and others I love and can do all day long.

For a good example: Tilt-a-whirls.. love em. I can ride a Tilt-a-whirl from dawn to dusk and probably only have to take restroom breaks. (By the way, does anyone know if pulling on the bar and leaning in unison one way actually makes the car spin faster??)

The bad : TeaCups and what's worse. The bane of my existence.. the Gravitron Thriller. I get off that thing and feel awful. Not really vomit sick, but a terrible feeling that makes me wish I could just vomit and feel better.

To ME, laterals seem like they should affect us all the same way. Anyone have any clue as to why?

**And remember, this is for prosperity's sake, so please... be honest** .. my Princess Bride quote for the day

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Sorrrrrrrry folks! Parks closed. The moose out front should have told you.

All are bad very very very bad. Thank goodness foe eagles or I wouldn't be able to ride any flat rides.

I would think that it not only depends on Laterals, But also positive G's, speed, angle, and visual perception. All these things together determine whether a whirl and hurl makes you sick or not.

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The Beast and Night, They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly

*** This post was edited by MagnumForce on 5/19/2002. ***

I keep hearing about these Eagles and their "snaps". Sean still has a promise to show me how it's done at PKI's CBC. :O)

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Sorrrrrrrry folks! Parks closed. The moose out front should have told you.

Everyone wants to be told how to snap the cables. It can't be told, you just have to do it. I do it and I don't even know how.

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The Beast and Night, They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly

That's great. Who makes the Flying Eagles. I want to see a picture of it.

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Sorrrrrrrry folks! Parks closed. The moose out front should have told you.

There's ONE flat I'll ride, The Catepillar at the MBP. Other than that, an occasional toture session on a Scrambler. In general, spinnerpukes give me the fear, they have a certain feel to them that just creeps me out. I get scared, not sick. They just don't seem right;).......

It's in your inner ear. There's a fluid chamber and very delicate hairs lining the entire chamber. The real reason it's there is to allow you to keep your balance and orient yourself to the ground if you're falling or doing something in midair, like swinging through the trees in pursuit of or flight from something. The sense of balance is what makes some people better gymnasts, skiiers, climbers, etc. An amusement park ride subjects you to more disorientation than evolution has prepared you for but it's the same sense.

People are different. The more hairs you have, the more sensitive they are, and the larger your chamber, the more acutely you'll sense those rides. These factors also determine whether you'll tolerate a tight circle (Cuddleups, Teacups, etc.), an up and down motion (Octopus, Spider, etc.), or a wide lateral motion (Scrambler, etc.).

Some people can tolerate the straight drop like roller coasters or plunges but not rotating drops like the Octopus. Some can handle and flat or wide circling ride but not the steep long drops. It's all in the inner ear.

The really neat thing is the displacement. You feel like it's your stomach. But it's not. It's the inner ear. Even when you throw up, the impulse to do so comes from the inner ear, not the stomach. It's an example of how sometimes what is obvious is in fact false.

As far as influencing the Tilt-a-Whirl, there is a slight influence from doing what you say. But not a large influence. For 50 years statisticians and physicists have studied the Tilt-a-Whirl as the best amusement park example of various motion theories. They've meticulously diagrammed the path of each car and now it's all been fed into computers and analyzed a hundred different ways. If the ride is run empty, over 1000 cycles the motion will be random. But with riders things begin to happen. The biggest factor is weight. A car with more weight will rotate more. So you can pack your friends into one car and increase the likelihood of more and faster rotations. You can round up the heaviest friends and increase it more. Obviously, if one track picks up rust, or one wheel needs oiled, that car will be a little slower and provide fewer revolutions. So by watching the ride a few times, you can identify the faster cars. But that only applies if you're a week or so from the last maintenance. A good park checks little details every day, oiling, greasing, sanding a rust dot here and there. That erases any differences among cars, and throws it back to rider weight.

Thanks for the indepth, Trekker. That explains a lot about T-a-W. However, I'm still thinking that T-a-W falls under tight spins like the teacups though. One bothers me, and another doesn't. Hmm...

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Sorrrrrrrry folks! Parks closed. The moose out front should have told you.

Can anyone tell me what The Zipper is like??? I want to go on one so badly!!!!!!!

I used to be a flat rides queen when I was younger. I haven't ridden any lately so I can't tell if that's changed or not, though. My two faves were always the Scrambler and the T-a-W. The spinning of the car on MIB at Universal didn't make me a bit nauseous, though..........so maybe my flat ride tolerance level is still okay.

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coderGirl said:
Can anyone tell me what The Zipper is like??? I want to go on one so badly!!!!!!!

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The zipper is shear insanity! When the ride first starts up its easy to tell where you are, but when the second axis of rotation starts up it's almost impossible. The only time you have any clue of what's going on is when you get the "whip" effect and then you know you are at the very bottom.

It actually is a very fun ride if you can handle it, it truly is a classic.

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The tighter the rotation, the more sick I get. I can ride a Tilt-a-whirl once without barfing, but not twice. Trabant is OK. Round-up is OK. Teacups? I don't even think about 'em. Coasters with small helices (i.e. PKI's Vortex) make me dizzy.

Now, rotation on the other plane (i.e., looping rotation) I can do all day. Rock-o-plane is my favorite flat.

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He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking; can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.

For pete's sake.. I'm dying to know who makes Flying Eagles, so I can get some idea of what they look like. Someone help, por favor!

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Sorrrrrrrry folks! Parks closed. The moose out front should have told you.

Bisch-Rocco made the original 1930's Flying Scooters both in portible (with 8 tubs) and park model (10 tubs) designs. The recent installation of the "Flying Eagles" at PGA, was built by Larson (maker of the Ring of Fire) and has 8 tubs.

I hate the Flying Bob-Type rides including the himaly***

Homey G : Not exactly. There was an article about a year ago where a CADCAM researcher tracked five rides, including TW and TC. The teacup (cuddleup) car pivots on its own axis, while the TW car swings around a distant point. Specifically, the individual rider in the TC tracks an arc 1/3 that of the rider in the TW. So the TW approaches a lateral movement while the TC approaches a pure pivot. There are thousands of people who could ride a TW but would be staggered by a Teacup.

Teacups= "hurl & twirl". Meanwhile, rides like El Toro (or whatever it's called at SFA), I could ride forever.....

I am pretty sure there's a current mfr. of the Flying Scooters (the originals were Bisch-Rocco as jp said)....what we need is a good flat-ride database....anyone?

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if you aren't outraged, perhaps you haven't been paying attention...

Ok Trekker, I get you. Now I'm gonna try to probe the intellect just a bit more. Explain why the worst of them all is the Gravatron Thriller. Although it's lateral motion, the pressure comes from the front cause your back is to the wall.

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Sorrrrrrrry folks! Parks closed. The moose out front should have told you.

I believe I have built up a tolerance to these rides. They used to make me sick, but I started going to the city park, riding swings and merry go rounds all the time and I eventually was able to tolerate the rides. For years I sat on the sidelines while my kids played then after I was fortunate enough to quit smoking, I had more energy and felt like playing. Smoking can make you feel sick too. It did me.

I guess I have very few hairs in my ear, because I usually never get sick or feel sick on a ride, no matter what type of ride it is.

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