the straight and narrow on straight drops

Since we're knee-deep in the offseason, I'm craving some thoughtful discussion on a design issue that bothers me, that being the seeming preference toward banked first drops on steel loopers.

I'm not looking for a "straight drops are better than banked drops" qualitative debate. I'm just wondering what your thoughts are on why there are so many banked drops on steel loopers.

If my facts are skewed in any way, please feel free to let me know. I think it's safe to generalize the designs of Schwarzkopf and Arrow loopers up until the late 80's by saying that, for the most part, Schwarzkopf loopers featured banked first drops (with the notable exceptions of The Mindbender at SFOG and Shock Wave at SFOT), and Arrow loopers featured straight first drops. Beginning with Shock Wave at SFGAm, though, and continuing through the present day, it seems that the straight first drop has become the exception, as opposed to the rule, when it comes to the design of steel loopers, including inverted and stand-up coasters, and incorporating most of your top coaster design firms.

Now, the reason this preference toward banked first drops bothers me is simply because they offer little to no airtime. Again, this is not to say that airtime is "better" than lateral forces. But it does seem to me that the beginning of a ride is more ripe for quality, sustained air-time than it is for quality, sustained lateral forces. Yes, you can have bunny hops at the end of a steel looper that provide intense airtime. But it is brief. It seems more appropriate to place sections with strong lateral forces when there is more speed already built up than there is coming off the lift hill.

If coaster designers know this, though, why do they use the banked first drop so frequently? Of course, there are plenty of considerations. Banking a first drop instead of having an elevated 90- or 180-degree turn before a straight drop uses less material, both for the track, and the supports. But is that amount significant enough to merit a design change? There are the aesthetic qualities that might make a banked first drop more visually appealing, due to the smoothness of the line, and the contrast with the straight lift hill and supports. In terms of physics, the banked drop might provide a smoother transition between the lift hill and the bottom of the first drop. But aside from those, why not consider the airtime? I can think of only a few hypercoasters that don't feature a straight drop, and, other than speed, what are those rides capitalizing on but vast amounts of airtime? Are park owners unaware of the appeal of the airtime-filled first drop? Do they neglect to ask for straight drops in designs?

Discuss amongst yourselves. Again, I'm not looking for value judgements about which drop is better. To me, the straight first drop just seems more appropriate. And I like them, darn it.

For one thing, I think a banked drop looks a lot 'cooler' to the GP than a straight drop. However, I think the main reason is space. After the coaster has climbed the lift it has taken up a lot of space, and continuing the coaster farther with a straight drop just takes more space. So, the designers send the coaster back in the direction it came from, therefore using less room.

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Top Gun: The Jet Coaster Flights in 2001: 85
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I like the visual aspect of a curving drop better, as you see the track curving away. It seems that curving drops are much steeper than straight drops as well.

Then again, airtime is low on the list of qualities in my favorite coasters.

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You can't spell "dishonorable" without "honorable."

By straight, I don't necessarily mean straight off the lift hill, like Magnum or Goliath. It can follow a turn such as on Loch Ness Monster, or Vortex, or a swoop turn like Mantis and Shock Wave at SFOT.

So far, I seem to have a few votes for aesthetics.

I love a straight drop and I think Arrow has finally got it perfect with X! X has a perfect straight drop and to make the coster turn around they didn't use a normal 180 degree turn. They used the huge raven turn. I'm all about straight drops if they are steep.

I do agree with StarCoasters that they build the curve drop to send the coaster back the way it came up, so that it uses less space.

S&SFAN said:

I do agree with StarCoasters that they build the curve drop to send the coaster back the way it came up, so that it uses less space.

But a 90-degree turn such as Vortex's (PKI) or a 180-degree turn such as Demon's (SFGAm/PGA) does not take up significantly more space than would a banked drop of the same degree.
I fully understand the space concern. I just don't think a banked drop saves that much space, in terms of a ride's footprint.

I love the pre-drop turns that Arrow used for their Demon rides. For that matter, any coaster that gives you a pre-drop before the straight one, it adds to the air on the drop!
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"Time flies...Whether you're having fun or not". -Mary Engelbreit.

Another consideration, though, is the main focus of loopers. Unlike hypers and woodies, a looper's purpose is to make positive G's, not negative. Most loopers employ an OTSR too: I wouldn't want intense airtime for any length of time only to be smashed up into the harness. That wouldn't be any fun.

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Yet another coaster-craving yuppie

While I'm not going to conjecture on the "purpose" of loopers, other than to turn you upside down, I will ask, why not have airtime on loopers? True, floating up into the OTSRs isn't the same experience as floating up into a lap bar, but I personally don't think it's painful.

Think of all loopers, stand-ups and inverteds included. What about the zero-g rolls on B&M rides? Those toss you into the OTSRs. There's a bunny hill on Riddler's Revenge...

Air on loopers never bothers me. In fact, the airtime on the first drop of Canyon Blaster(Adventuredome) is the highlight of the coaster. Airtime is best when you *don't* expect it imo. It's certainly better on lap bar only rides, but I'll take it where I can get it. Anybody else know of a looper that offers great air?
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"Time flies...Whether you're having fun or not". -Mary Engelbreit.

I dig curved drops, and very much prefer them on inverted coasters (so you can at least see where you're going in the back seats). There's more to life than airtime, and I don't need every coaster to be the same. If I did, I'd never leave Cedar Point because it has, for the most part, every element possible. But it's the sequence in combination with different types of rides that I can't get enough of.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

DWeaver said:
"Anybody else know of a looper that offers great air?

Two loopers with great air are Corkscrew (CP) and Fire Dragon.
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GO CU! Big 12 Champs!

Add to that list:

Loch Ness Monster
Kumba
Mindbender (SFoG)
Great Bear
Manhattan Express

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Tyler Eaves
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PT300, that spot of air on Pyrrock (Fire Dragon) is exceelent, even if short-lived. I think it's very similar to that "spot" of air on Montu, between the final two inversions...Of course, for me the best air is the double-down on a nice woodie (Phoenix)!
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PoTP acolyte - remove fear to reply
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Are there any Inverts with Straight drops I don't think I have ever seen one?

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