My handful of coaster questions...

[Intricks]

Yea...I knew the wheels touched, but wasnt sure exactly why. The whole spring loaded mechanism clears up a lot to be honest.

 

[ava1enzue1a]

However, a related stat which I do know is true, for Kingda Ka to launch the extra 36 ft. in height over TTD, it requires 80% more energy than TTD's launch.

Interesting! Quite ironic as it is only 36 ft. taller! Thanks for that one Hyde. And UC, as always - thanks again for your feedback/explanations

 

[Hyde]

^ The irony lies in the exponential nature of physics - requiring massively more energy to do more work.

 

[ava1enzue1a]

^ The irony lies in the exponential nature of physics - requiring massively more energy to do more work.

Yeah! No wonder these things have been described as being "engineering nightmares"!

 

[ava1enzue1a]

OH! But wait... you also have to note that Kingda Ka's launch is actually quicker, reaching its maximum speed within a shorter period of time (3.5s vs. 4s on TTD). That would help to explain it as well

 

[Luxornv]

- What's the length of Top Thrill Dragster's launch section?

Thanks in advance!

If you assume the ride's advertised 0-120mph in 4 seconds to be constant acceleration (which it isn't), then you can approximate the length of the launch track using calculus. I worked it out quite a few years ago as a high school assignment, but can't remember the answer. I do remember that I calculated the force of the launch to be just less than 1G. Just because I'm a nerd, I will work it out again and post my calculation later.

 

[Hixee]

- What's the length of Top Thrill Dragster's launch section?

Thanks in advance!

If you assume the ride's advertised 0-120mph in 4 seconds to be constant acceleration (which it isn't), then you can approximate the length of the launch track using calculus. I worked it out quite a few years ago as a high school assignment, but can't remember the answer. I do remember that I calculated the force of the launch to be just less than 1G. Just because I'm a nerd, I will work it out again and post my calculation later.

OR - you just open up Google Earth and use the ruler tool to measure the picture.

I make it around 180m, but it's only approximate. Better than you'll do by calculation though.

 

[Luxornv]

I make it around 180m, but it's only approximate. Better than you'll do by calculation though.

Probably, because I make a lot of assumptions in that calculation. Turns out I'm also very lazy and didn't get around to doing that last night

 

[bergochdalbana]

Delete

 

[bergochdalbana]

Delete

 

[bergochdalbana]

Re: Sv: My handful of coaster questions...

Delete

 

[bergochdalbana]

Delete

 

[jokerman]

There is no way you can claim that level of accuracy. No way. Why has the error changed? Were you just guessing the first time?

 

[Intricks]

To bck up UC for a quick moment, Ive personally see it hit 129 on a good day.

Also, my understanding of engineering is that you must be as accurate as humanly possible. There is no room for error.

 

[ava1enzue1a]

Wow! You guys are getting pretty technical here, which is cool

Next question: Anyone know the height of Alpengeist's cobra roll, from base to apex? It looks to be on the larger side for its type/element. I'm rly curious about this.

I'd guesstimate it to be around 90ft (which would stand a total of 100ft over the Rhine River, given my additional guesstimate that its base stands 10ft in elevation compared to that), but I could be wrong.

P.S. I wonder if we could actually contact park operations(?) or even the ride manufacturers about these kinds of questions. Actually, that's a question in itself lol. Anyone know?

 

[ava1enzue1a]

Also: why does Leviathan only have 8 cars instead of 9? I thought B&M's standard for this style was to have 9 cars e.g. Apollo's Chariot, Nitro and Silver Star to name a few. Moreover, it seems to make more sense that they would have chosen 9 for a giga like Leviathan as it would seem more appropriate for its large-scale profile. So for them to have chosen 8 cars in this sense is quite ironic given that smaller ones i.e. hypers/megas have 9!

What makes this even more confusing is that 1) a coaster like Leviathan would have had a lot of hype (e.g. "B&M's first giga!") and so you would figure a lot of popularity/attraction for it; 2) given it is a giga the ride duration is relatively longer in comparison with other B&M sit-downs so larger time gaps in between train cycles. Given these factors you think they would have had even more reason to prefer 9 cars for a more efficient ride capacity.

The only reason I could think of is that maybe they wanted to emphasize the sheer size of this ride ("Leviathan"), as an 8-car train does look smaller on the layout, making the hills/elements themselves appear "larger". But come on, it's only 1 less car! Otherwise having 9 cars would seem to be the better alternative while taking into account that consideration for the ride's capacity: a total of 4 extra riders for each cycle, adding up to a much better rph (riders per hour).

My question remains: why 8 cars instead of 9!? Anyone have any idea? Thanks in advance!

 

[Thekingin64]

For Levaithan, I think it's to do with space available in in the station. I know they chose the old train design over the new one to due the old design taking up less track space and going round corners easier.

 

[ava1enzue1a]

^ I considered that possibility as well; but come on we're talking just one extra car; they couldn't have made the station just a little longer to fit it in? There seems to be plenty of room for it. Come on, it's Leviathan! We're talking larger elements, taking up lots of space etc. 8 cars = still unorthodox.

 

[Hixee]

All the coasters with the 'new' trains have 8 cars. So Leviathan isn't anything out of the ordinary.

 

[ava1enzue1a]

So how is having 8 cars vs. 9 relevant to the "new" train design? Quantity of cars vs. design ─ what's the correlation here for Leviathan?