xcelerator topped off - it looks UGLY!!
Looks to me like a crazy @$$ ride and I would love to see one over here on the east coast. Way to go Knott's!
Coasterman Mike
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Total rides on Phantom's Revenge: 49
Total rides on Pittfall: 255
Total rides on Superman:UE : 633
Feel free to IM me @ CoastermanMike
Thunderbirds, Chevys.... Shows you what I prefer! ;)
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Xcelerator-
0-82 in 2.3 seconds! =Wow!
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Jes
Jes's Roller Coasters DJ Jes MCS Please, Feel Free To Call Me Jes!
"Thank You Jeff Putz"
*** This post was edited by Antuan on 4/12/2002. ***
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Jes
Jes's Roller Coasters DJ Jes MCS Please, Feel Free To Call Me Jes!
"Thank You Jeff Putz"
That single element is probably the only thing that is going to make the ride.
DOnt forget about the 0-82 M/P in 2. something seconds. to me you could have what ever you want i just like the exceloration.
I really dont care about the color of a ride. I never even noticed the colors untill these boards mentioned it.
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Just to be technical.....
The track is cool coral, the supports are seafoam green...
The trains are candy apple red, and purple...
The station will be glass and chrome alloy steel....
Intamin AG square sectioned track is made up of 1/4' steel, plus on top of that, it's in an arc shape. that's strong enough to hold an elephant haning from the crown, and then run a train over it. remember, it's relitivly soft steel, so it will sway a bit, but will never break.
Taipan said:
Guys & girls, the Top Hat is all twisty-looking due to it being designed around the riders' heartline.
Sure, it would look better all straight as in the artist's impression but would hurt like hell.
It looks just as strong as Wicked Twister. One could argue that the train is weightless when cresting the TH & thus not much support is required. Wrong, as with most coasters, they're over-engineered & can withstand earthquakes & gale force storms. I'm pretty sure that the TH is more than strong enough to support a train in the unlikely event should it get stuck at the top.
All I can say is far out!
Firstly, the main reason for the top hat not looking like "the ones in the pictures" , isn't because it was designed around the riders heartline, yes it was designed that way, but the reason for the parabolic shape is for structural reasons. The parabola is stronger than a semicircular with two straights, or even a parabola with two straights. Comfort plays a part, as you won't spend the ascent and descent pressed into the lapbar (or otherwise) thanks to the nice flowing track.
Actually, if they made it with a semicircular roundoff, then you would be in airtime country. The scientific explanation of airtime is when the shape of the track, and the path the train takes along it, is smaller than the path your body would take if not restrained. Incidently enough, thats why people like to leave their lapbars loose, so on these hills, they can have a moment of pure floating in mid air.
I'd also say this is well and truely stronger than Wicked Twister. Firstly, the structure has two ends, not one like on WT, so the weight for this, is resting on two support towers, unlike one on WT. Also it will be more stable because it has two towers - what is easier to ride, a unicycle or a bicycle? (A tricycle is easiest, and now we're getting into the reasoning behind the use of triangles in most structures for its incomparable strength.)
Lets also chuck in the fact that California has the good old San Andreas Fault - remember that wooden monster that supported GhostRider? The council would not have allowed Xcelerator until they were certain it'd be the only thing left standing in the whole of California in the case of an earthquake.
No coaster ever looks the same in a picture as it does in real life. Not even the greatest picture by Joe Schwartz does any ride justice. It may look ugly now, but how many people will be saying that come May when it opens, and actually are standing there watching the trains zap up with a clear blue sky in the background.? Probably nearly as many as there are at the moment saying it, but still. I guess some people just aren't in it to marvel at the engineering aspects of it, moreso in it for the ride, so to speak.
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So what if the best coaster in Australia is a second hand Arrow?
http://www.totalthrills.com
*** This post was edited by auscoasterman on 4/14/2002. ***
I think it looks ugly and weird. I think the reason is that it doesn't have too many supports so it looks like a NoLimits coaster before you put up the supports. At least that's what I think.
-Daniel
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"I'm not a wooden puppet, I'm a real boy!" - Pinocchio
Yeah, I remember them talking about Ghostrider's supports at Solace. They used far thicker wood than usual, plus some steel to make Ghostrider ridiculously strong.
I don't think that it looks nearly as akward in person as it does in the pictures.
By the way, they have the pullout for the drop done, and the track is going into the first overbanked turn, which most of the supports are up for. There are also almost all supports up for the second overbanked turn.
By my guess, it will be done in about 2 weeks. That should give them more than enough time for testing and adjusting, plus media day :) and employee previews :) .
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Xcelerator-
0-82 in 2.3 seconds! =Wow!
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