What is the most surprising airtime moment you’ve experienced in your enthusiast career?

If the emphasis of this question is placed on the unexpected aspect, then the first answer that pops into my mind is the final bunny hill — really more of a bunny bump — on the Mad Mouse at Little Amerricka. Seems a typical, old wild mouse, and just when you think the ride has come to its end and you’re just gliding back to the station, POW, you’re sent flying out of your seat unrestrained, landing back on the hard seat with a thud.
 
There was a surprise drop at the end of "big loop" at heide park - But last time I rode it, the rest of the ride was so bad I didn't notice it, so the ride was more like "big poop"
 
Not a coaster, but the most surprising airtime I've ever experienced was on a flight from London to Chicago. Going through some nasty turbulence the plane just dropped a couple hundred feet in altitude pretty quickly. Ejector airtime is pretty surprising when you're half asleep in the middle of an overnight flight!
 
Back row, Raging bull, First drop. Before riding in 2019, I had heard that raging bull had basically no airtime and hadn't heard anything about the back row.

Honorable mention for SFGAm superman pretzel loop, row 7. got pressed to the back of my seat? before getting too far into the loop itself, def a weird experience.
 
The Incredible Hulk, just after the first corkscrew that goes down into the trough. Wasn't expecting any airtime on that coaster at all however there seems to be a slight dip-down after the corkscrew that managed to pop me out of the seat for a second, was totally surprised!
 
Up until 2016 I hadn’t travelled to theme parks abroad… I think Smiler was the first time I ever felt air time on a steel inverting coaster… So that caught me off guard quite a bit…

Obviously it’s nothing nowadays, but when you’re a brit who only really relates steel coasters to speed, positives, hang time and intensity… Back then it was quite a pleasant surprise. :)
 
On screaming eagle at SFSTL on the second to last hill, right before the turn into the brake run, I got launched into my restraint, not complaining but it hurt my thighs for a bit after.
 
Feel like I've said it in a similar thread before but I'll say it again.

Revolution at BPB. Easily some of the best ejector in the UK despite the old school OTSR.

And to answer the question from a different perspective, I've gotta pay respect to the beloved 'big pirate ship' Half Moon at Efteling.

Sure, it's not a coaster, but get yourself on one of the end rows and your arse won't really need the seat all that much.
 
JackFish124 said:
On screaming eagle at SFSTL on the second to last hill, right before the turn into the brake run, I got launched into my restraint, not complaining but it hurt my thighs for a bit after.
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I remember this one too. Screaming Eagle is a coaster I've only done once, but want to reride so much!
 
The first two hills on American Eagle are surprisingly good. You are absolutely flung out of your seat. I always seem to forget how strong they are.

An honorable mention goes to Goliath at Sfgam. I had ridden the ride a few times prior to myself becoming an enthusiast. It's safe to say I'll never forget my first ride on it as one. In particular the ejector hill following the overbank is downright lethal. I wasn't expecting it to be nearly as wild as it is.
 
For true ‘unexpected’ airtime I’d have to give the 1st place award for Jackrabbit at Kennywood. Even though it has a reputation for killer airtime, that hit way harder than I anticipated.

2nd place for me would be Lightning Rod’s gravity defying goes-on-forever-airtime on its ‘jumbo’ wave turn. It was outrageous.

These two are joint 3rd - surprising more for ‘being gloriously weird’ than being ‘merely unexpected’:

- Zadra’s gravity defying upside-down-airtime on the stall;
- Iron Gwazi’s gravity defying sideways-launching-airtime on its wave turn (I would place this as the best single element from any ride I’ve been on).
 
Great to see this thread getting a bump! I also have a couple of new additions since its creation in 2020.

I know that the praises of The Ride To Happiness have been sung so heavily on this forum; but can anyone honestly say that they expected it to deliver as much airtime as it does? for a spinner? I mean the drop off that weird top hat was always going to deliver, but every single hill hits. The moment that caught me most off guard was the airtime on the second launch. That has no right delivering the airtime it does.

Another highly praised coaster, Fury 325, also caught me completely off guard with the airtime on the Treble Clef element. I think there is definitely part of me that assumes too much based on footage and is always skeptical of the hype. Rising up to the top of that element and sideways out of your seat is a truly euphoric moment though.

Not a coaster, but the back row on Magma 2.0 gave me some of the strongest pops of ejector airtime that I've ever experienced... on ****ing truck 😂 You can thank the potholes in the road for delivering those! Truly mental and a must-do for anyone not faint of heart.

I will also second @Nitefly's thoughts on Zadra. Zero-G stall airtime makes no sense... but it is glorious!


With the good does come the bad though and I have two new entries for the "Airtime Blueballs" category.

I'll start with the obvious. Apollo's Chariot easily has the worse ratio of airtime hills to airtime sensation of any coaster I have ridden. We rode it at the end of a long, boiling hot day, so it wasn't that it hadn't warmed up. It just needs an extra 5mph to turn it from something lackluster into one of the best B&M hypers.

And then countering @Nitefly's opinion on Lightning Rod, for me of the 6 RMC's I've ridden, this had the weakest airtime of the lot. The biggest offender being the infamous quad down. This foursome should have been an assault on my thighs; instead, it was more like a polite tap, regardless of the row.
 
Callum said:
My most surprising was Colorado Adventure Phantasialand - I knew nothing about this coaster and didn't expect to be thrown out of my seat multiple times 😆
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I was about to write the same thing. First time I rode it I had to hold onto the bar tightly because the first airtime moments took me completely by surprise. Got a few rerides that same day because damn.
 
Shoot the Rapids at Belle Vue, Manchester, fifty years ago.
You sit in a large cupboard, on a seat (for two) made of metal rollers.
The cupboard door closes, the seat suddenly changes into a 45% slope, and you roll down the seat rollers out of a trapdoor at the bottom of the cupboard.
With me so far!
The trapdoor opens to drop you onto a massive cloth conveyor belt made of canvas, about twenty feet wide, thirty feet deep, again at a rough 45% angle, that has offcentre sponge covered cam rollers that bounce you down the conveyor at an angle, then the conveyor belt shoots you back up to the top, and you get bounced and rolled up and down the belt a few times, at varying angles, by the operator at the bottom, who was constantly laughing like crazy at the poor punters.
He had control of the speed and rotation of the off centre rollers, that make the "waves", the angle of the belt from the horizontal, and the direction of the belt rotation.
He basically had full control of your bouncing body for about a minute.
Only ride I have been thrown up in the air from "freestyle".
Best ride ever, only did it twice, but never, ever forgotten.
Surprising airtime at its very best, but a one trick pony, with a kick.
Edit...Mentioned on the Magic Eye Joyland books website...can be seen under the Scenic on one of the photos.
 
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This random, unassuming hill on Tornado at Stricker's Grove. I'm not sure if they've fixed it at all in the last 15 years, but I was caught entirely off guard. Overall, the coaster is fairly tame, but then there is this innocent little hill/drop right in the middle of the ride that provides a swift moment of absolutely violent ejector air.

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Phoenix at Knoebels.

I rode it not knowing much, if anything, about it. But damn, it constantly just tries to throw you out of your seat, and the double down is ridiculous at the back too.
 
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