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SFFT | Wonder Woman Golden Lasso | RMC Raptor

Matt N

Matt N

CF Legend
Hixee said:
I think it might be two things:
  1. They're much less padded and look a lot more like seatbelt material than the B&M vests.
  2. Have you ever seen a B&M go round corners like this? :p
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I suppose so. I never really thought of that. B&M's vest restraints are also pretty substantial, whereas these look more flimsy, if you get what I mean. Might also be the reason why Vekoma putting vest restraints on intense, airtime-filled coasters like Lech Coaster has never been a problem, as those look quite substantial too. Thanks @Hixee!
 
Hyde

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
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Social Media Team
The OTSRs use a fabric band for the shoulder portion, correct? Rather than a soft composite like that Maverick and other Intamin OTSRs first used before switching?

I've seen my share of burns from my climbing days. Looking at this guy's intense hickey, I would guess the restraints were not tightly fitted on the upper body, allowing too much shoulder/neck movement that in turns causes whiplash with the restraint.

That's unfortunate if true, as Intamin has really worked out a good OTSR with their version 2 soft-straps. Would be ashame for RMC to have to reinvent the wheel.
 
Matt N

Matt N

CF Legend
I reckon RMC should stick with the lap bars they have on their wooden coasters and Iron Horse coasters, because they look quite nice. Not as nice as B&M's clamshells, but still nice.
 
Jared

Jared

Hyper Poster
Issue is that the trains straddle the track? So there’s no place to put a lap bar. I’d assume the wider track design will allow for lap bars, but these don’t.
 
Hixee

Hixee

Flojector
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Jared said:
Issue is that the trains straddle the track? So there’s no place to put a lap bar. I’d assume the wider track design will allow for lap bars, but these don’t.
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Yes they straddle the track, but they also have lap-bars. They're the same style as Taron, where they pivot from behind the rider's head.
 
SilverArrow

SilverArrow

Certified Ride Geek
I wonder how many times that person rode to get such bruising. I know lots of coasters bruise but that looks quite extreme unless they bruise very very easily. It isn't super unsurprising though considering the what we've seen from testing videos.
 
Matt N

Matt N

CF Legend
Is this open like how it's going to operate after 12th May? Or do you get a timed ticket to ride or something? Or is it a pass holder preview?
 
Antinos

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
I received a phone call this morning from a friend of mine and he asked me to clarify what is happening with the restraints. Raptor trains were originally designed to utilize a floating pads on each strap to provide ample cushion for the extreme negative forces that are characteristic of the ride. He knows on good authority that the Texas State Inspector would not sign off the ride with the floating pads, but was ok with no padding for whatever reason. The park decided to forego any further delays and open the ride while they wait for RMC to ship a redesigned pad that covers the entire strap. These new pads should arrive and get installed sometime in the next few weeks.

My friend stated that the back row was unbelievably intense and he could only ride two times in a row before wanting a break. Despite this, he did not have any bruising on his shoulders. The person in the photo likely marathoned the back row, maybe accruing a half dozen laps or more. These bruises are certainly an extreme case that shouldn't happen with one or two rides, and will not be an issue at all when the new padding is delivered.

Railblazer, on the other hand, was certified by California inspectors with the floating pads. It's not clear whether California's Great America will stick with the floating pads or switch to the full, fixed pads.
 
Jarrett

Jarrett

Most Obnoxious Member 2016
If it’s too fast (which I doubt), they’ll probably mess with the wheels instead of trimming it. I know Chaser has three sets of wheels and I've ridden it on two of them, and there is a pretty significant difference once you really bite into the ride duration. I feel we're much more likely to see softer wheels put on than trims, unless the issue is on the earlier parts of the ride.

I feel like a bad RMC fanboy for not being certain about this but they've not trimmed any of their other rides, correct? I don't think they have but I wouldn't go as far as to just make the claim.
 
Antinos

Antinos

Slut for Spinners
The ride doesn't need to be trimmed. While the ride is intense, it's not too intense to operate. Actually, the ride is operating exactly as RMC intended.
 
Hixee

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
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Antinos said:
The ride doesn't need to be trimmed. While the ride is intense, it's not too intense to operate. Actually, the ride is operating exactly as RMC intended.
Click to expand...
You know... I don't agree. If you look back through all of RMC's previous material for these rides, not a single one showed anything like the amount of speed that this one has. I can't believe they'd have done all that work on the graphics without having the speed dialled in - after all their modelling is usually pretty good.

Not saying that it's not safe, and won't be perfectly fine running like that for it's lifetime, but I reckon if RMC were asked about this "off the record" they'd say it was quicker than they expected it to be.
 
H

henryjwillis

Mega Poster
Yeah, I can't imagine them slowing it down in the foreseeable but it's absolutely running faster than it was designed to be. Just look at the animated and real POVs side by side.
 
Climb

Climb

Mega Poster
This looks absolutely insane; the speed this thing is running, christ...
Also, I can't help but think about the throughput on this are going to be absolutely dire.
 
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