Speed increase is not linear. The maximum speed for a 214 foot drop is roughly 79.9 MPH. That's with no friction. Therefore, SOB is running about 2 MPH slower than theoretical max due to frictional losses (air resistance, track friction, etc.) I'm unsure of SOB's velocity at the beginning of the drop, but it should push the final max velocity to ~81 MPH tops.
MF's 300 foot drop yields a maximum speed of 94.67 MPH. This is the maximum speed of a 300 foot drop in a frictionless environment. Adding in the lift hill speed bumps this max to about 97.5 MPH. Taking into account that SOB is running roughly 3 MPH slower than its theoretical max, and that MF is running ~3.5 MPH slower than theoretical max, it's close enough to say that if SOB was 310 feet tall, it would run ~93 MPH. (the extra .5 MPH loss can easily be made up in air resistance from falling an extra 90 feet through the air)
Jman
*** This post was edited by Jman on 2/13/2001. ***
