Why are Suspended Coasters out?

I recently took a trip to PKI and got to ride Top Gun. That was one of the awesomest rides I've ever been on. It doesn't get the hype that it should, and I see that this is a huge improvement over Iron Dragon which was created 6 years earlier. So why is it that parks are not putting in these suspended coasters? I think its a great concept and can be improved even more. Seeing the difference in the smoothness and speed of the Top Gun over Iron Dragon I don't see how parks would not buy these things up.

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***Why can't all parks have a Millennium Force?***

i agree i like these coasters i mean they cant compeat with such new coasters as deja vu,X,Batwing,Nitro etc but they can have alot of improvments in them and i wouyld like to ride more then there is out at the moment but we have to get over it. thats like 80's technolige we steped up in the industrie and no parks want them they also use up alot of space.

I think it would be very cool to have a suspended coaster without a floor; like an inverted coaster except that it swings. That would be really sweet.

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A New World. A New Technology. One Last Hope for Salvation. Neon Genesis Evangelion

Coastercraver, check the IAPPA gallery. I believe that I remember there being a suspended car where your feet dangled. It only had a lapbar if I remeber correctly too. Search around, you'll find it.

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-Joe
(Who will be at Cedar Point August 9th. E-mail me if you're gonna be there.)

Thanks Intamin2k! Yes, the Caripro suspended model is floorless and does indeed have only lap bars. On improvement on any (hopefully) new suspended is that even if it isn't floorless, it should have a shoulder harness on it.

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A New World. A New Technology. One Last Hope for Salvation. Neon Genesis Evangelion

I agree I think that there should be more of these Suspended wonders. My name reflects how much I dig these. Even though they don't provide the gut-wrenching drops they still deliver an incredibly fun ride! Though I do understand that now parks need to add more modern rides, but please some company should make a modern version of a suspended. Robodud I agree with you Top Gun Rocks!

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Andrew, who thinks suspended coasters rock!

Suspendeds are great (I've worked the Iron Dragon - '98 Crew), but a lot of the coaster-riding public is into inversions which just aren't possible for the style of the coaster -- too much stress. Also, they have considerable downtime in rain to empty out the wheelcovers and prevent slopwater from drenching riders (though some have a different sort of cover which doesn't need as much watching). I'd love to see more suspendeds, and I can't wait to go on Top Gun in the next couple of years (I only get to a couple parks a year...) -- it looks superb!

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Po!nt of View: A different look at Roller Coasters.
http://www.crosswinds.net/~justmayntz/thrills/index.html

The Vortex @ PCW, the original TG suspended clone, is such an awesome ride. I have NO idea why they don't make more of these. The ride packs quite a large latteral punch into a small-lift-hill ride. it's sweet. The ending helix always leaves my mouth dry.

Imagine what a 200 ft suspended would be like? :)

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PCW needs something taller than a boomerang

You can't beat Vortex's ending! The train FLIES into the stations brakes!! The structure shakes!! :)

Can't wait for tommorrow now!!

This brings one question to mind: with Arrows' new 4D technology, do you believe that there will be a way to use it to make a suspended possible to complete inversions?

I know that they wouldn't be freely swinging, but would there be a way to "program" the insane swinging maneuvers in at the right moments, while tone it down for inversions like a zero-g roll or verticle loop? I know it sounds far-fetched, but if a 4D can rotate the car 360 degrees, surely there would be some way to control the cars lateral movements.

All of the components (the structure, cars and chassis assembly would all need to be incredibly strong as I'm not sure the ride normal would be able to withstand all of the side to side movements.

This probably most defanitely wouldn't work in real life, but a cool concept at least:)

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A New World. A New Technology. One Last Hope for Salvation. Neon Genesis Evangelion

Has anyone here been on Ninja at SFMM, and how does it compare to some of the other suspendeds around? I thought it was a pretty good ride, but was a little short.

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"Clear, Dispatch"

Yes, I have ridden Ninja at SFMM. I found it to be one of the best suspendeds around. It had the length, which is what I felt Top Gun was missing. (I always get off wondering where the second half is)

About the possibility of inversions. There is video of Arrow testing the original suspended concept back in 79 or 80 with a scale model and a full size prototype (with one car and a VERY strange track that looked like Schwarzkopf track). They originally intended it to have an inversion (the working model had one). But, if the train didn't have sufficient speed going into the inversion the results would be catastrophic on the train. It just wasn't a smart thing to tackle, and they probably realized that it wasn't realistic.

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- Peabody

This coaster got lost in all the sensationalistic hype over the last years to build the biggest, fastest, wierdest coasters that can be built. The inverted coasters really took away from the suspendeds because they do more acrobatics.

Bigger and wierder is not better. Parks need to focus back on the coasters that provide good rides. The suspendeds provide a great smooth ride. So much could be done with them, just imagine top gun with a second lift hill, it would be one of the best steel coasters going.

You know, I thought the same thing after riding Top Gun. Big Bad Wolf is a good ride, but it shakes around all over the place. With Top Gun, Arrow really got it right. It's smooth, fast and powerful. It's a shame that no one has bought one since.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com

Actually Peabody,I believe Schwarzkopf actually took on the project of the Big Bad Wolf @ BGW. Unfortunately he either went bankrupt or pulled out about half way thru the construction. Thats when Arrow took over.

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Hello, My name is Dan and I'm a coasterholic. *** This post was edited by coasterpunk on 6/21/2001. ***

The only suspended I've been on is Ninja. Oddly enough, I think it's much too short. If Top Gun is even shorter, that must be a 10 second ride! The problem with Ninja is it doesn't pick up speed fast enough. An enjoyable ride, but definitely not one of the best at Magic Mountain. I hope I enjoy Big Bad Wolf this summer, because that drop looks cool. That's what I think Ninja is missing, a big drop.

The Vortex @ PCW
is an awesome ride
*** This post was edited by scanz on 6/21/2001. ***

I love suspended roller coasters! They're so much fun! I rode Top Gun at PKI at least 5 times, and still wanted more. I love how after it hit the breaks the train is still swinging. Front seat @ night = Amazing! I love how SFMM's Ninja is tucked into the trees on the hillside, which makes for some nice surprises. I don't know why suspendeds died out. They still seems pretty popular at parks. Ninja has one of the longest lines at SFMM during our visit.

I wish Arrow would start making more Suspendeds. It is a really awesome concept for a coaster.

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Mindbender...Can you hear the Riddler chuckling?

It's sad that suspended coasters are disappearing, but coasters evolve over the years and parks are out to build the biggest, longest, fastest coaster now-a-days and suspended coasters are being left behind.