Wing Walker

[andrus]

Why aint there being built more coasters with wing walker trains?

I think that the wing walker design is obviously the best. It doesn't have a track above and no seats close in front of you that block the view like on inverts. You get the feet dangling free experience with free view and even without a track at all (ie better than floorless too) it almost feels like your'e floating in free air!

Sure Furius Baco is very rough and it hasn't got the most exciting track layout. But aint the track on Baco the standard intamin used on 2 abreast seated coasters? If they make the track a bit wider, put a little bit more effort in designing the track smooth (like B&M) and reinforce the trains it sure would be better! And then what prevents the layout from beeing full of loops and airtime hills just like regular coasters? It's just for intamins designers to be a more imaginative and the wing walker would sure be a huge hit!

 

[Pokemaniac]

Multiple answers to this, my friend:

First, WingWalkers have quite heavy trains. On most other coasters, the seats are placed on top of the bogie, and aside from themeing and restraints, there isn't much more to the trains. On WingWalkers and 4D coasters, however, there are an extensive beam system to hold the seats in place, which makes each car quite a lot bigger and heavier. Big elements would need lots of supports (steel is expensive these days) to be steady, and they would have to be big with those trains.

Which also brings us to the next point: size. WingWalkers need a lot more clearance than other coasters do, and the wide trains means more forces on the outside. Just look at Baco's Barrel Roll, which I think is closer to 100 metres long. Also, the weight and sheer size of the coaster prevents any inversions from being made. Loops could do, but would have to have tons of supports to hold the track up. It would also have to be very wide. Rolls and corkscrews would not work; too much forces.

Also, the novely wears off if the coaster isn't very fast. As you need wide turns, why not make it go along the ground? As you won't need huge support structures, all you have to worry about is the space. And not all parks have room for such a titanic coaster either.
Not to mention the fact that the technology is new, the coaster is apparently quite rough. With mediocre rewievs, and the power usage of the average Swedish town, not too many parks are keen to invest in these coasters. And those who have considered it, based on the praise Baco gets from someone, are still in the early phases of coaster building: planning. Two years isn't much time to start coaster building from scratch, there may be parks out there who has bought or is going to buy a WingWalker, but it isn't ready for announcement yet.

After all, they comfortably get around height restrictions, and with a few tunnels, noise wouldn't be much of a problem either. Wait and see, there were many people who thought we'd never see another Giga either...

 

[Jake]

I'm pretty sure Baco has larger track than regular 2-across Intamin track.

Look at the width of 2 riders on Baco, compared to 2 of the riders on Speed Monster.


Baco - track much wider than 2 riders:

Speed Monster - 2 riders wider than the track:

Another reason is the roughness - the outside seat on Baco is a LOT rougher than the inside seat. This is the same story on the Arrow/S&S Arrow 4D coasters too, so looks like something that may never be ironed out.

 

[andrus]

I see where you are coming..
But to be honest 4D coasters like X2 have equally heavy trains and still are booth high and include loopings. I can see why a corkscrew would be to forceful but there are lots of other possible inversions like standard loops, immelmans (like on B&M DM) and probably dive loops aswell. Not to mention how amazing airtime hills would feel with this type of trains!! Both S&S/Arrow 4D and B&M DM show that it is possible to build big, looping versions of a wing walker. But yeah, it's gonna cost..

And regarding to power usage, it isn't neccesary to have a launch, it could do fine with a regular lift imo. It aint the launch that is the prime feature on a wing walker, it's the freedome the train seating provide!

Just let's hope it'll be built more wing walkers in the future! :wink:

 

[andrus]

I'm pretty sure Baco has larger track than regular 2-across Intamin track.

Look at the width of 2 riders on Baco, compared to 2 of the riders on Speed Monster.

Hmm, are you sure? There might be a small differece but it's hard to judge on those pictures.. But anyway, it's way smaller than the B&M DM tracks! Not that a wing walker should have those wide tracks, but a little wider would probably help.

Another reason is the roughness - the outside seat on Baco is a LOT rougher than the inside seat. This is the same story on the Arrow/S&S Arrow 4D coasters too, so looks like something that may never be ironed out.

I noticed that :wink: I rode Baco on the outside and thought that my head would fall off! But B&M DM that are much wider runs perfectly smooth even on the very outside seats, so I think it is very possible to build a smooth wing walker as well!

 

[Antinos]

^That's because dive machine trains have(somebody correct me if I'm wrong) more uniform support that runs along the entire train. Wing walkers have the gap inbetween seats.

Also, the outside seat on a wing walker or 4d coaster wouldn't be as rough if designers didn't care so much on looks of the trains and added a simple lattice support beam behind each seat like this:

[]\[]===[]/[]

 

[andrus]

^That's because dive machine trains have(somebody correct me if I'm wrong) more uniform support that runs along the entire train. Wing walkers have the gap inbetween seats.

Well that's partly correct. I watched a couple of videos on youtube and saw that sheikra do got a tiny horizontal beam on the backside of the seats but oblivion don't. But then oblivion aint floorless.. (and got less seats abreast)

Also, the outside seat on a wing walker or 4d coaster wouldn't be as rough if designers didn't care so much on looks of the trains and added a simple lattice support beam behind each seat like this:

[]\[]===[]/[]

Yea, I wouldn't mind if they put extra support beams on the trains. If they put an X on the backside of the seats and maybe the same horizontal beam as on sheikra I think the ride would be MUCH smoother!

 

[andrus]

Another idea I had: Why not make the wing walker seating 2 abreast (instead of 4) like all other intamin coasters?

If the roughness problem is on the outer seats a simple solution likes this would do. Less passengers also means less weight and lighter trains.

Sure it would dramaticly decrease the capacity of the ride. But this could partly be solved by using dual loading stations and if a more hilly/looping layout is beeing used it would also be possible to add a mid course brake to make it possible to run more trains.

 

[STC]

The only Wing Walker I think I've been on, X2, was EXTREMELY rough in places. It also made a massive difference whether you sat on the inside or the outside, and I hear the same thing about Furious Backache. The problem is, if there's any roughness in the track, it causes the arms to start "bouncing" up and down which kills when you hit the OSTR's.

 

[marc]

The only one I have been on is Baco, I am in no rush to repeat the experience.

 

[rollermonkey]

Been on Eejanaika, X2, Sheikra, Griffon, Oblivion, but NOT Baco. (and from what I've heard, I don't even want to.)

I never found the outside seats on any of them to be rougher than the inside seats, only wilder.

I'd suspect the reason that another hasn't been built is simply a combination of the things mentioned:

Steel is expensive right now, so cost of building one is prohibitive right now.

Baco has garnered mostly negative reviews. Why go with Intamin when there are "better" options out there?

Also, there's Intamin's growing poor reputation concerning their launched coasters... Maybe we'll see a traditional lift-hill Wingwalker, but probably not a launched one any time soon.

 

[Anonymous]

There have been a rumour that Intamin is going to supply a park with another wing-walker of sort for some time now, but no further details have surfaced...

 

[WuTang2k2]

To all the nay-sayers, it's called Furius Baco, not Mild Baco, not even Moderate Baco.

The ride isn't even painful; but it is definitely crazy - and thats how rides should be. I'm so tired of rides that gently caress you all the way round.

That is all.

 

[Ben]

To all the nay-sayers, it's called Furius Baco, not Mild Baco, not even Moderate Baco.

The ride isn't even painful; but it is definitely crazy - and thats how rides should be. I'm so tired of rides that gently caress you all the way round.

That is all.

I just felt this needed to be repeated in a second post.

 

[tks]

How can you enjoy a ride when all the way round you're trying to stop your head being repeatedly smashed into the restraints?

 

[furie]

How can you enjoy a ride when all the way round you're trying to stop your head being repeatedly smashed into the restraints?

I just felt that this needed to be repeated in a second post (only time from a person who has never claimed that the Big Dipper at Blackpool is "death" and should be torn down because it's "too rough" )

 

[rollermonkey]

How can you enjoy a ride when all the way round you're trying to stop your head being repeatedly smashed into the restraints?

Upon reading this, I immediatley wondered how the topic had changed to Maverick. Then I looked back and saw that it hadn't.
popcorn:

 

[andrus]

How can you enjoy a ride when all the way round you're trying to stop your head being repeatedly smashed into the restraints?

Because it ain't. I don't know how short you people are, but I'm who 1.86 m always have my shoulders pressed against the OTSR, and thus my head is way above the restraints..

Back to the topic. Although I don't find the coaster painful (by starting this topic saying I want more of these coasters I've kind of already stated that), but I agree that it could be a little bit smoother. I've just watched all the pictures of Baco at rcdb and came down to that the entire coaster uses tri-track :? why not use quad-track if the coaster has rigidity problems??

I still think the wing walker can be a hit! If the roughness is a result of the track not being rigid enough, it can be built with quad-track or intamin's new double rail track. If the rougness on the other hand depends on the track layout itself not being smooth enough, I pray to god that B&M will start building wing walkers instead! The instability in the trains can be solved with supports on the backof the seats as already mentioned.. I just hope the track layout as well gets a refurbishing with some tighter turns, some airtime hills and maybe even a loop or two!

 

[tks]

I'm 1.65m and I got battered on that ride. Two rides during ERT and I had a headache! I think the problem with the Wing Walker trains is that they don't have enough bracing along where the seats are. However if they were held rigid I could see them snapping off due to the stresses involved.. Intamin need to discover springs. And better padded restraints.