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Face/Off Question


flightoffear1996
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This is just a guess, but I'll put my two cents in:

As you watch the second lift hill during a cycle, you will notice that the catch-car actually begins to move before the train itself reaches the car. I would imagine either one of two things is occurring here. (1) The ride control system, through the use of sensors located throughout the course, calculates the speed of the train and the speed of the catch car mimics it, thereby reducing the jolt felt by rides as the car engages and lifts the train up the hill. (2) A more simple approach may be that the catch car moves with the same speed on each cycle. I don't imagine the differing weight of riders has much effect on the overall speed of the train, so a pre-set speed can be used effectively.

Generally speaking, the catch car probably engages with the train at the same location each time, and due to physical (speed) limitations, there is a point which the catch car will not be able to pass. (Or rather, there is a point on the train that will not be able to pass the catch car) The catch car can only travel so far along the track, and therefore the train can only travel so far.

There are physical barriers preventing the train from leaving the track as well, but these are surely not the only measures taken to prevent such a catastrophe.

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The train guide ends before the top. There is also a block in it so the train cant go that far in case of a computer error.

Normally, a proxy sensor senses the train is at the top of the hill, and it holds the train or releases it (for the second lift). I'm sure there is also a manual device that will turn off the lift if activated incase that the PLC somehow crashes and dosnt automaticly E-Stop. I dont know when that would happen, but it could...I think.

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Just remember, nothing's impossible just improbable...

I imagine the "stoppers" for Face/Off, Avatar, and Plankton's Plunge aren't really to stop the car from going off the track. Simply put, it's not designed to go that high or that far. Therefore, if there did happen to be a system glitch or some sort of physical problem in which the train or car did go higher than usual it would prevent it from grazing the end of the track and causing damage.

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Just speaking along the same lines. I love ridding Wicked Twister in the front and watching the end of the track come closer and closer on the forward spiral. Not to mention that the stoppers on that track get bigger and bigger the closer you get to them. That ride always gives a great feeling of your going off the end of the track.
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Wicked Twister really scares me alot in the front seat for that very reason. Face/Off even scares me because of that and I was wondering what there is to prevent it from going over the edge. That is one of the reasons I usually like to ride in the middle cars. Anyway thanks for giving me some ideas on how they work that. I would hate to see that ride go over the edge pushing its riders to a sure death.

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When i went back in July i rode Face/Off in the very back/front where you go up the lift and you are looking at the very end of the track and it was freaky because it felt like you were never going to stop. I only saw like a metal plate that went down over the track that kept it from going off.

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http://extremepki.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-1547

See where the "track" for the chain ends? The chain "flips" back to the top and travels to the other side of the track and to a gear at the bottom, then back into the track where you can see it at the base (for the first lift, the second lift goes about halfway down from the top of the spike)

It is PHYSICALY impossible for the train to be hoisted past this position from the thrid car...unless gravity starts working differently, then I think the least of our worrys would be Face/Off...

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That is as high as the train goes. The only way you'd be able to get it to go higher is if you somehow got the catchcar to grab the very front car. Even then I highly doubt it would go much higher.

As far as a manual device to stop the lift - if the PLC goes haywire - it will E-Stop itself. If there is nothing wrong with the PLC - but still something wrong - the operator can press the E-Stop button.

Face/Off also has "Ride Stops" - just like a flat ride. It is operated in every way like a flat ride. From an operations stand point - it is not a roller coaster.

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Der Kloster what I am saying is if the catch car grabbed from the frist car going up the lift then it could go off unless the catch car went off but since it grabs from like the second or thrid car it could up less high and still pull some of the trains off the edge.

I under stand the E-Stop two but just saying this what if the E-Stop stuff went all heywire and what not but Is there any mechincal device that stops the train from going of the edge.

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Whatever it is - there is a camera hanging down from it to watch the riders. It pretty much is looking straight down the lift - so whatever it is attached to is going to keep the train on the lift. Its awesome to watch the tv monitor for those cameras - especially lift 2 - where the train flies up toward it, then gets closer and closer until it starts falling away from it again. The looks on some peoples faces is hilarious.

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  • 2 weeks later...
That woudl be true but the chain connects liek 2 or 3 cars from the front car.

The chain is only allowed to go so far, not by a computer, but by how it physically is made. Theres less computer involved than you thing, there is physical restraint on the catch car and "chain" so that it never could pull the cars off the edge and say you removed those safe guards and let the chain pull forever, the trains would be stopped at the top, the track just doesnt end into nothingness.

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