The Bat - POV

It is weird how rides affect us differently. Did SOB give me some nasty bruises on my thigh: yes, but the coaster that punished my thighs the most was Magnum (after a Joe Cool Ride night and 15 rides on the drive home my thighs had that burning sensation you get when your face is wind burned, the next day it hurt to walk.) Bruising does not bother me as much, probably because of my days as a (no talent, horrible) football player back in high school. SOB was just boring, and was made even more boring when the loop was taken out.

I actually loved Ultra Twister. It was my last ride of the night on the last weekend of SFAW (emergency trip from Fort Worth to nab all the credits) and I thought the air on the first drop was awesome and everything else was quite fun. I don't recall having any trouble with the restraints. The capacity could have been better, but what else is new...

Touchdown said:

Then how did you enjoy the ride? Coasters that actually physically hurt me are down at the bottom of my list.

Because the ride was really, really fun and super intense. It made me laugh the whole way, but I got a headache from repeated rides. There was no line, and I was there on a high school trip at the time, so we had a big group of us who kept riding.

One of the girls in the group had never been on a roller coaster before, and that was her first, and last, ride.

May she rest in peace... ;)

Jeph said:

May she rest in pieces ;)

There, fixed that for you. ;)

I estimate I rode Bat over 50 times in the three years it was in limited operations. Votex's station has a basement and contained line. It was always a very long wait. 2-3hrs.

Like others have said, I have vague memories. It was very tall but never really very fast. At one point in the ride the shocks would always hit full extension and bang, The car would jerk a bit at that point and go the opposite direction. I can't say if it was that same spot or not but at one point between one complete opposite swing, You would get a 0g feel and then a big acceleration feeling as the car swung the other direction. It was weird because it just kinda died out on speed when approaching the second hill If you car was unbalanced say the two adults were in the left side with two kids on the right. It would hit the guide and give you a good jolt. *I've had that happen on Iron Dragon too*

The final helix was pretty cool and effective at scrubbing speed as it went bottom to top.

No it wasn't the best, But it was Far better than iron Dragon IMHO and as good as BBW was even though it didn't have the Rhine Drop.

The Bat's Themeing and trains were excellent. As were the Beast when it was built. Seen a lighted eyed Bat Head on Ebay about five years ago going rather cheap and it was from the line theming. Brother has a Bat Mug found at a yard sale for 50 cents. :)

*Count me in as a Drachen Fire Fan* I must of re-rode that thing about ten times straight once when I went back there as the ride was kinda hidden near the festhaus. As if nobody knew it was there..

Jeff said:

Coaster Rider X said:

When the train is moving at a velocity different from the track, you feel it a bit differently than you do when they two are just heartlining around the center of gravity.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. The track has no velocity because it doesn't move.

Regarding what is "torquing" the track, if it's not banked, that means the pull on the bogie is going to be all over the place instead of on the road wheels, and therefore the top of the rails. Suddenly you have to look all over the place for bearing and axle failures, and all possible flavors of track failures. What a pain.

As for the swing feeling different, the cars are going to swing to the outside of the turns, banked track or not. The shocks on the Bat look horribly loose, and I'm sure took a beating because of the constant swinging.

On a suspended coaster, the dynamics of the train are not limited just by the track. The lateral velocity, or lateral acceleration, of the car can exceed that of the track - thus actually swing. The Bat was virtually all swing. On subsequent suspended designs, Arrow learned from many of their mistakes and basically set the car to follow the roll rate of the track. There are very few moments where you are exceeding the lateral velocity and roll of the track. The difference to me is a tangible "feeling". I can always pick up on these little moments of swing on suspended designs. Pretty much all the modern suspended rides had a few good pit of the stomach swings coming into the brakes for the first few cars.

My recollection of riding the Bat never placed it contending to be the best coaster; but, I do recall it riding differently from other suspended rides.

Oh and the comment about it hurting at the end is from the very rough transition to the transfer track. I remember a nasty jolt there... and where the shocks would bottom out.

All this suspended coaster talk makes me really wish I could've gone on Eagle Fortress. If only physics would allow for more crazy suspended designs.

Coaster Rider X said:
On a suspended coaster, the dynamics of the train are not limited just by the track.

That was my point.

The Bat is the coaster that turned me into an enthusiast. It was a sad day when it closed. It wasn't that it was terribly frightening. It was just extremely cool. I was 12 when it opened and still remember my 2 rides very clearly.

That same guy just posted another POV Bat video that was broadcast by the local news at the opening. It's got nice off-ride video as well. Some might be converted to Bat fans by the wild swinging footage in these clips.

One thing people miss is that the Bat was built on a hillside, and the lift hills both went up, where the terrain went down. I remember a bit of fear as the train made the first turn and the hill disappeared down into the ravine. With the trains, the marketing ("Captured alive, by The Bat"), the free flight above tree line, the unbanked turns, the bat station, it was a perfect mix.

What a great video! I've seen less than a handful of POV rides of The Bat. I rode it once. I was 10 at the time and don't remember liking much about it except for the cool sign. :)

Thanks for sharing the video!

-Tina