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befat

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Posts posted by befat

  1. 5 hours ago, homestar92 said:

    I realize this is very pedantic, but it's Congo Falls, not the flume. Those signs can only be seen from inside of Timberwolf. 

    Ahh, I stand corrected. I thought it was the gate by Mystic Timbers. 

  2. I took my first trip to the top of the Tower today. I know there’s nothing new to be seen in this picture. But, I think it’s strange that we’ll be looking straight across at a new coaster next year instead of down at a construction site.

    4941712C-E230-44EC-A0AB-0F755046CB22.jpeg

    • Like 8
    • Thanks 1
  3. On 6/19/2019 at 3:02 PM, Captain Nemo said:
     
     
    1
    On 6/19/2019 at 3:02 PM, Captain Nemo said:

    Here are photos from today's flight over the construction site and the steel fab site. Took at least 400 photos, here are a snippit of them.

    Enjoy,

    -Captain Nemo (Gabriel) 

    DSC_5467.JPG

    Screenshot_20190620-214102.thumb.png.e7757cfe15f21f43057960ba31c2a21b.png

    I think I know what happened here:

    B&M: Yo Hershey, you like this color for your supports?

    HP: Yea

    B&M: Yo KI, you like this color for your supports?

    KI: Yea

    B&M: Yes, hello? Can we just double that order of gray paint?

    • Like 6
    • Haha 4
  4. On 6/19/2019 at 3:37 PM, thatguyfromohio said:


    9154cb65c2b949967d8501f7ad5328f3.jpg
    Possibly. Same 2 lower colors. Track blue, support gray like this building. That’s our teaser



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

    Good call! 

    I'm still banking on seeing teasers after July 7th.  End of Carnivale and Gold goes away the same day. As in years past, I'm sure the announcement will come along with sales starting for 2020 season passes.

    • Like 2
  5. 1 hour ago, MDMC01 said:

    Great picture showing the comparison! To me, Bat looks like a “tighter” version of Vortex (as the latter seems more drawn out). Wonder which is more intense?

    Thanks- @aj74205 for the comparison!  I find it interesting that the turnaround helix on both rides ended up interacting closely with other rides.  On Top Gun, that train flew so close to Son of Beast.  It was always fun to watch!  Obviously, Yukon Striker has a tunnel under that same helix on Vortex.

    Edit: To add to the confusion about the differences between Bat and Vortex, RCDB.com has a picture of Vortex's plate which lists a recommended speed of 100 km/h which converts to 62 mph.  RCDB says Vortex's speed is 55 mph, so ????  I'm guessing the speeds were actually measured at some point since they are less than the speed listed on the ride plate.  I can see how speed would be variable depending on what conditions they were measured under.  Weather can play a big factor, along with beginning/end of season. 

    I'm wondering if the differences in length are simply a mistake.  These rides were pre-internet so I'm sure accurate information was hard to come by for RCDB.  Now, all they have to do is copy the announcement information.  (I have a great appreciation for this website though!) 

  6. 6 hours ago, fryoj said:

    Paramount was trying to do more of the Disney thing than the CP thing. Theme park over amusement park. They just didn't have the budget and the the ability to do year round operations for that to work. That being said, Paramount added 5 coasters to the park. As of right now, CF has added 4. During the Paramount Era, CP also added 5 coasters, only 2 of which were B&M. If SOB hadn't been so poorly built and was still here to be RMC'ed today, I think the Paramount era is looked at differently. 

    Son of Beast was around to be "RMC'ed".  New Texas Giant opened in 2011 and the decision to tear the ride down after was made public in mid-2012 with the ride being torn down later that year.  The GM said publicly that the decision was made after a thorough evaluation of the ride.  I'm sure an RMC conversion was considered.  In my opinion, SOB did not lend itself well to being converted.  We probably would have gotten basically the same layout as before, like in this fan creation.  Instead, we got Banshee.

     

    • Like 3
  7. 39 minutes ago, malem said:

    ^^^ See also reports from a Kansas City news station prior to Memorial Day. https://fox4kc.com/2019/04/22/with-just-weeks-until-summer-it-doesnt-look-like-schlitterbahn-will-open-in-2019/

    The Corpus Christi property was sold last year; I would be surprised if the Schlitterbahn branding at that park stays around much longer. https://kristv.com/news/local-news/2019/04/24/new-direction-for-waves-resort-cc-featuring-schlitterbahn/

    Thanks.  I figured they still fully owned the property since it’s still on their website. But then again, so is the Kansas City property. I’d love to see a full case study on Schlitterbahn once this is all said and done. 

  8. 6 hours ago, CoastersRZ said:

    It was mentioned in this article: https://www.mysanantonio.com/business/local/article/Schlitterbahn-sells-New-Braunfels-Galveston-13985150.php that they intend to rebrand the South Padre property that they will continue to own.  Looks like the impetus for the sale is to pay off a large note payment that they had to pay to EPR Properties.

    It will be interesting to see what changes Cedar Fair makes.  Also interesting since Cedar Fair had previously sold off some of its stand alone water parks in California.  It will provide some diversification as they do not have any operations in Texas.  It appears that the deal will close in the second quarter, so relatively soon.

    EPR properties owns several amusement related properties, including several that are managed by Six Flags: Six Flags Darien Lake, Frontier City, and Six Flags Hurrican Harbor Phoenix.

    Interesting that there is no mention of the Corpus Christi property. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the end of Schlitterbahn as a brand name. It goes to show how a tragedy can impact a brand name. (See Sea World).

  9. @MDMC01 In an effort to not derail the decoding thread, I’m moving the conversation over here. I had forgotten the reason that X-Flight and Batwing were designed with the GAU (Guest Automation Unit) motors on the train was so that they could be lowered on the lift. They ran into issues with this so that idea was scraped by Six Flags. https://youtu.be/qrhcVrKJnVI

    The whole system (both types) that raises and lowers the train is known as the GAU. If there were an issue with the GAU motor (or pin, which locks each row into the prone position), it would force an evacuation. It’s way easier to evacuate from the station than the lift. 

    It looks like Vekoma has been working on some new ideas for their flying coaster model for a while:

    https://youtu.be/nO5we1Xmiqc

    https://rcdb.com/15201.htm

     

    • Like 2
  10. 8 hours ago, MDMC01 said:

    Great info, befat! What is the difference between onboard hydraulics and off train hydraulics? I just watched a video of Stealth and it looks like it had a similar system to Firehawk (I’m not sure how to spot the differences between the two systems).

    For Stealth/Nighthawk and Firehawk, there is/was a giant hydraulic powered structure under the station that lifts the train.  For every row, there are 2 little wheels that ride along 2 metal C shaped bars which raise the train (circled in red).  These metal bars are all attached to one big structure under the station.

    For X-Flight and Batwing, the mechanism that raises the train was/is a motor attached to the chassis of the train for each row.  I've never seen this mechanism/motor in action but I'm guessing it is hydraulic powered.

    Photo credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iO9aX70VK-o

    Edit:

    Check out the screen grab below from a video of X-Flight to see the difference in the systems.  Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRfvCMv8P6A

     

    Capture.JPG

     

     

     

    Capture.JPG

    • Like 4
  11. 1 hour ago, silver2005 said:

    I thought there were other differences between Firehawk and Nighthawk like the seat lifting mechanism.  I could be wrong.  Unfortunately, the site where I was told that got rid of their forums and is all but dead now and I don't have the patience to go through the internet to find photos of that mechanism on both. 

    In any case, if Firehawk has bit the dust already, I expect the other 2 to follow suit shortly. 

    Finally, Flying Dutchman are already finicky enough when using their original trains.  Putting a new set of trains on one of them would be a disaster in terms of downtime.  

    In watching videos of all three Flying Dutchman’s in their 5 different locations, here’s what I noticed about the seat lifting mechanisms. Stealth used an off train hydraulic system which I’m assuming is the same as Firehawk’s. Nighthawk also uses an off train hydraulic system. X-Flight used on train lift motors on each seat. Batwing continues to use this system. When X-Flight was moved to KI, the on train system was removed and the off train hydraulic system was installed. I believe the motors from X-Flight were sold to Six Flags. If the Firehawk trains could be modified to accommodate a different lifting mechanism, one would think they could be converted back to their original configuration. There’s no reason to ship the entire train across the country. But by storing the trains at KI, CF has the potential to make money by selling parts to Six Flags or save money by shipping parts to Carowinds should the need arise. I do think eventually KI will decide that the location next to the new ride is not ideal and they’ll be moved elsewhere in the park. Nighthawk and Batwing are major coasters at their parks. I wouldn’t be surprised if they stuck around for a lot longer.

    • Like 4
  12. On 5/31/2019 at 12:15 AM, VortexBFForever said:

    KMAA is paired with Shake Rattle & Roll for its crew (just like how WindSeeker and Vortex are paired for my crew). Prior to this year, Shake Rattle & Roll was paired with Backlot. Backlot is now its own crew.

    Are the other ride groups Monster/Dodgem/Scrambler and Racer/Zephyr?

    • Like 1
  13. 25 minutes ago, Magenta Lizard said:

    Because they want to keep it?

    I’ve heard a story told that there was some gorgeous big old tree they sort of built Beast around. All through construction it was kind of in the way, but they worked around it because they wanted to keep it. Towards the very end, it ended being accidentally damaged and had to be removed.

    Son of Beast was built around this tree and it’s still there! I think it’s become sort of a tradition. See also the 2 trees around Mystic Timbers drop. I’ve never heard the part about that tree actually being damaged and removed during Beast’s construction.

    Edit, you can actually see this same tree in @sixohdieselrage‘s image.

    384F202F-C101-4130-8155-93BE0FC8708F.jpeg

    • Like 7
  14. 3 hours ago, AZ Kinda Guy said:

     

    B&M uses pneumatic brakes or drive tires to bring trains to a complete stop. You primarily see the drive tires on areas of the coaster where it is traveling at a low speed. Such as in stations, base of lifts, and ready brakes. Pneumatic brakes in the midcourse and safety brakes. Correct  on not being “pinch brakes.” The pneumatic brakes make contact with pads that are bolted in the middle section of the trains lower frame.

     

    3 hours ago, Gordon Bombay said:

    Thank you, @AZ Kinda Guy. Any insight on generators and power redundancies?

    Diamondback is the only coaster at KI with a backup generator. It’s only to restart the lift in the case of a power outage. There’s also a system on the mid course brake run to manually release the train back to the safety brakes. It then needs to be evacuated from there. I don’t know if this comes standard on B&M mega coasters.

    As you know, all coasters will come to an automatic stop in the next block in the case of a power outage. Only on the arrow coasters, the trains need to be chalked eventually since the air pressure will bleed off after several hours.

    • Like 1
  15. 13 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

    I'm a bit disappointed there's no hype from the park. Banshee hahasd legit signs and props outside the fence to get people excited for what's to come that kept people guessing.

    It’s all about the limited time events these days to drive attendance. I wouldn’t be surprised if they put off the teasers until after Carnivale ends on July 7th. 2020 should make for a record breaking attendance year regardless. They’ll want to do everything they can make sure 2019 isn’t a down year. Also, they have a count down on the website for Gold Pass prices increasing on May 28th so they might be waiting to clear that hurdle.

    • Like 10
  16. 40 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

    You're all going to hate me.

    The world's tallest hyper coaster title doesn't sound so bad....

    It would be a sneaky way of including “world’s” in the marketing materials. Also, the world’s only hyper-giga coaster with the lift of a hyper and the drop of a giga.

    • Like 8
  17. On 5/14/2019 at 12:19 PM, Gordon Bombay said:

    beast40blog1400.png

    This photograph is amazing. I knew the exit path once went under the station and out near where KCKC was, but I never realized there was another path under the keelboats. I wonder where it went. 

     

    On 5/14/2019 at 2:07 PM, TheRickster said:

    I think it just became the maintenance rd behind TRTR and onto the TRTR access pad.

    My guess is it was maintenance road back then too. It looks like the fence line continues across the path as a gate.

  18. 1 hour ago, BSBMX said:

    Another thing I found interesting... Looks like there will be a water fountain in the station on the exit side, in front of the operator booth. 

     

    65184F96-9973-4F3D-82F5-A97A09FE356B.jpeg

    That’s one of those simple things that makes one think, wow, why did it take this long for someone to think of that? No more lugging around a heavy water cooler for this ride crew.

    • Like 8
  19. 1 hour ago, bjcolglazier said:

    I wholeheartedly agree with this statement, but wonder if others agree? I'm shocked---no, dumbfounded---there have not been many more TTD/Kingda Ka rides built.

    Reliability. I don’t remember the exact words he used, but Dick Kinzel said in an interview that TTD was his biggest mistake/regret. Six Flags was in too deep before they realized it might be a mistake. Xcelerator has the same issues that TTD does. It’s not the biggest draw for me at Cedar Point. It’s actually pretty low on my list or must do rides there. I don’t have much desire to go check out Kingda Ka. As already stated, they are (very expensive) one trick ponies.

    • Like 1
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