coasterrz Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 The ring of seats would not be moved down electronicallythrough the brakes if it was stuck there. The reason is that the magnetic brakes can`t completely stop the ring of seats. Magnetic brakes can`t stop a car completely. Instead, it slows the car down to a crawl. The car is then stopped by a couple of shock absorbers. (at lest thats the way I understand magnetic brakes). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrfyter Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 All I got to say is they better drop the ring of seats or they will have to take my seat with me. Thats just WAY too high to be doing stuff like that. Bring me some food and water and Im sure they will get it to fall in a day or 2. They can get the harness on while you are still in the ride. It slides up over your legs, and then around your waist. they barely have to move the restraint at all to get the harness on you. then they hook you into the haul system and release the OTSR. if you look at ityou most likely wouldn't be hanging for very long, as there are ladders and steps and crap on the catch ring and the top of the tower. i also wonder if they could actually get to the top of the tower and manually release the ring. How would they do it, since I believe that the catch ring keeps the lower ring attached by either hydraulic or pneumatic cyclinders, and someone would have to get to the top of the ride, and manually blled those off, all simultaneously to get an even drop out of the ring. If one side shifted, and the other two didn't let go, the situation could be worse than just leaving the ring at the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradb055 Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 I dont know how DZ actualy works, but if there is a manual hydrolic(sp?) release it would release all of the arms at once. My guess is that there is a master cylinder for all of the hydrolics so that not just one arm can be released. That would be bad if one arm released and the others stayed locked. Anyway thats just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrfyter Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 I thought there was a cyclinder attached to each of the locking points, and I think there are three or four of those, so i don't think there is one master cylinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DegenRider Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 (edited) They can get the harness on while you are still in the ride. It slides up over your legs, and then around your waist. they barely have to move the restraint at all to get the harness on you. then they hook you into the haul system and release the OTSR. if you look at ityou most likely wouldn't be hanging for very long, as there are ladders and steps and crap on the catch ring and the top of the tower. Yeah lets take the nogo strap off now. Once again You better be able to torch cut my seat out because I would be too scared to move. Edited January 1, 1970 by sobrider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRickster Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 Theyd get you out anyway. Cause you would be at a high risk of shock. But you wouldnt be doing it alone a rescuer would be holding you while your going up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beastbreakdown Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 That would be one situation i wouldnt like to be in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beastfreak Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Funny story since we are talking about Drop Zone being stuck in an emergency... One day this summer when it actually did break down for a while with the ring stuck at the top... a woman on the ride was terrified. She was screaming to get off the ride. Sad thing was.. I was no where near Action Zone at the time and I could hear her. Obviously we could see the ride stuck at the top, but just hear in the background this woman yelling at the top of her lungs to get down and the occasional "Oh god" followed by some really loud sobbing. The best part was that after about 10 minutes when they finally started to bring the ring down she screamed even louder. I pointed it out to the people I was with, we all about peed our pants listening to this woman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRickster Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 wow that would suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYoung2003 Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Well everyone just know this, if and I do mean "if" the ride were to ever get stuck, most likely there would not have to be any major evac situation, the ride would be lowered slowly or you will be dropped from whichever point your at, then you would be released from your seats at the bottom. The only thing you would have to do is sit back and enjoy the view...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrfyter Posted October 25, 2003 Share Posted October 25, 2003 Yeah lets take the nogo strap off now. Once again You better be able to torch cut my seat out because I would be too scared to move. If it really came down to that, it is always a possibility. The USAR truck has exothermic torches, concrete saws, and reciprocating saws on it, that can cut through just about any material around. Anymore, we use reciprocating saws a lot for auto extrication. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 Yeah lets take the nogo strap off now. Once again You better be able to torch cut my seat out because I would be too scared to move. If it really came down to that, it is always a possibility. The USAR truck has exothermic torches, concrete saws, and reciprocating saws on it, that can cut through just about any material around. Anymore, we use reciprocating saws a lot for auto extrication. True, but talk about big time last resort. If you use a resipricating saw, it throws out sparks like crazy. We only use it on auto extracations in situations where the cutters won't work for some reason. I think a cutter would snap right through that OTSR, and would probably be a lot less stressful than having a saw with sparks flying everywhere right next to your body. I actually read a story on the internet of a guy who was stuck on DZ during an approaching storm. I believe he was stuck up there for upwards of an hour or so, but they managed to drop the ring. I tried looking for it again, but couldn't find it. Apparently, they poor, soaken few that were stuck on the ring were treated to a free dinner as well as complementary "I Survived Drop Zone" shirts. I think that no matter what, there will probably be a way to drop the ring. The reason behind that is, if they had to remove some old lady from the ride by cutting her restraint, and she went into shock, Intamin would be liable for any lawsuits resulting from it. PKI would just have to prove that their people did their jobs correctly, which wouldn't be too hard. So Intamin more than likely made for darn sure that the ring will drop 99.999% of the time perfectly, and the other small percentage it will drop eventually. As far as the rescue team goes, I'm willing to say that using them is more of a "what if" situation. Like someone said, there's probably a manual release for the ring. I'm sure they have accounted for every imaginable situation for tragedies on DZ. It's not like if the power went out that they wouldn't know what to do. Have faith in your PKI team, they know their stuff. p.s. where is this elevator that you guys are talking about? Is it within the tube? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrfyter Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 (edited) True, but talk about big time last resort. If you use a resipricating saw, it throws out sparks like crazy. We only use it on auto extracations in situations where the cutters won't work for some reason. I think a cutter would snap right through that OTSR, and would probably be a lot less stressful than having a saw with sparks flying everywhere right next to your body. Actually, a recip saw throws out no sparks, if you are experienced in Auto Extrication and using such a device. Its easy, keep a 1 gallon sprayer on your truck, filled with water and soap. pump it up and have one guy spray it while you cut. The water A.) will cool the balde keeping the teeth intact and in better shape allowing you to cut more metal before changing blades and B.) will help as a lubricant during the cutting process. As far as the elevator is concerned, yes it is inside the tube, and all you have to do is open one of the hatches under the ring on the tube base to get to it. Edited January 1, 1970 by fyrfyter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoddaH1994 Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 ^ Not a bad idea with the lubricant and the saw. We just so rarely use it. We have brand new cutters that work really well. I can only think of once that we've used a saw, and that was during a training excercise. Where is the entrance to the elevator? Is it underground, or somewhere at the base? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYoung2003 Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 I actually read a story on the internet of a guy who was stuck on DZ during an approaching storm. I believe he was stuck up there for upwards of an hour or so, but they managed to drop the ring. I tried looking for it again, but couldn't find it. Apparently, they poor, soaken few that were stuck on the ring were treated to a free dinner as well as complementary "I Survived Drop Zone" shirts. I remember that day, I was working Drop Zone that day. A lot of freaked out people and a lot of upset people. It was probably one of the worst experiences Ive had working there because they werent stuck up there with an upcoming storm approaching, they were up there throughout the whole thing, lightning and all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryler87 Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 Wow. Please excuse my language, however that just simply sucks. I'm willing to bet a few hundred dollars on the fact that Intamin installed some sort of manual release mechanism on that thing. I wouldn't be surprised it it was one of those one-time-use emergency release things that has to be replaced after its purpose has been served. I kinda doubt the second one, but it could be true. I'll still stick to my guns and say that the harness-emergency-retrevial-system is the very last resort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrfyter Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Where is the entrance to the elevator? Is it underground, or somewhere at the base? Actually, when the ring goes up, around the base there are closed metal porthole style doors. This is where the elevator is, and it just runs the height of the center column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterrz Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 How often are the bolts on the outside of the tower inspected, since the elevator is on the inside? Unless the mechanics ride on top of the ring of seats (there is a ladder there) and ride it slowly up and back down, inspecting the bolts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ Kinda Guy Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 I'm no mechanic but I'd be willing to bet those bolts are inspected every couple months. It's really quite simple how they are inspected. The mechanics just get on top of the "claw", not the ring of seats, and ride it up and down the tower at a much slower speed than normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beastfreak Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 I've seen that done. I thought the ride was broke cause it was moving so slow, until I saw the people on the claw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterrz Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 Now that I think about it, I might have seen it once when I was waiting for an ACE walkback. That would not be a job someone who is afraid of heights would want to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beastfreak Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 I've never seen them do it in the morning when people would be in the park. During the week at the begining of post season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Losing Streak Posted October 28, 2003 Share Posted October 28, 2003 I saw it this year when DZ was stuck for a good 30 minutes at the top. Eventually they began to lower it and it finally released when it hit the brakes. They tested it all day, and every time they put people on, it got stuck again. It was mildly amusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOB_TOM Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 Back when I worked SOB (Ride ops, sounds like the beginning of a PaPaw story, doesnt it?) I would watch them check the guide track. A lot of times they were done by the time we got there to clock in, so we only got a couple of glimpses of this. I want that job, just to ride on the claw to inspect it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DegenRider Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 Drop Zone is ALWAYS amusing to watch when its broke. Only ride funnier was face/off in 1999. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CYoung2003 Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 The day when it got stuck up at the top all those times was a memorable day. When they put the water dummies on it and it got stuck with the water dummies was so funny, I couldnt stop laughing for about 15 mins. Great days, fun times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoObKiNoS Posted November 12, 2003 Share Posted November 12, 2003 Actually, when the ring goes up, around the base there are closed metal porthole style doors. This is where the elevator is, and it just runs the height of the center column. Just to add to all the ramble here on the boards...the thing of course has a manual drop of some sort, beucase they sure havent used the 'repel like a jackass' method yet, so logical thinking would generally say that theres another way. And mr. fire fighter dude, you obviously know way more about me than fire fighting and all that stuff, and you got mad in an earlier post for someone saying something about fire fighting or that ussr truck or whatever its called. Well take your advice yo, we know more about pki, so dont go assuming about elevators and what not. The elevator does not run the hieght of the tower. Once you go in that hatch, there is a spiral staircase that goes up a little bit, i think to maybe about the top of the black section. Thats where the elevator is. And this runs nearly to the top, where i believe there is another staitcase. But i have never heard that about the evacuation you speak of, that is decently interesting, the only rumor ive ever heard was that they could repel down from a helicopter and do pretty much the same thing. the only reason i kind of believed this was becuase the helicpotor tour ride thing was added the same year as DZ, at least this is what i'm told. If you are indeed correct, then that does tell for a good story chap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKIguy14 Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 If the magnetic braking system can fail on the Superman coasters in Maryland and Massachusetts, does this mean that gyrodrop brakes can also fail. I heard they were failsafe, but I'm just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fyrfyter Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 (edited) Well take your advice yo, we know more about pki, so dont go assuming about elevators and what not. The elevator does not run the hieght of the tower. Once you go in that hatch, there is a spiral staircase that goes up a little bit, i think to maybe about the top of the black section. Thats where the elevator is. And this runs nearly to the top, where i believe there is another staitcase. But i have never heard that about the evacuation you speak of, that is decently interesting, the only rumor ive ever heard was that they could repel down from a helicopter and do pretty much the same thing. the only reason i kind of believed this was becuase the helicpotor tour ride thing was added the same year as DZ, at least this is what i'm told. If you are indeed correct, then that does tell for a good story chap. There are other things that happen in the park in the off season with the USAR team that you don't even know take place. The info I get is from other USAR team members. They don't mentione very exact details on how to do something, because most of us will ahve an idea what is going to happen in a rescue situation, but it was something they trained on, when DZ was first put in. As far as the helicopter thing is concerned, that bird by FoF is way to small to be useful for anything other than tours. IF they needed a bird, they would get help from AirCare, or more likely, our friends up the road at Wright-Patt AFB. They can be at Kings Island in about 15 minutes, and Blackhawk birds are meant for chores like that, involving rescue and heavy lifting. Not to mention, they are always available and unlike AirCare will fly in any type of weather. The other nice part is that Wright-Patt happens to be the home for OH-TF-1 (Ohio Task Force 1) which is the FEMA USAR Team, that goes on major deplyments, like 9-11, and the staging earlier this year for hurricane damage. With those resources available, any rescue can happen at any time, and Wright-Patt is always willing to help. Edited January 1, 1970 by fyrfyter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterrz Posted November 13, 2003 Share Posted November 13, 2003 Unless all fourteen magnetic fins on each of the two sides of the tower that the brakes are mounted on fall off, I don`t think Drop Zone`s brakes can fail. Also, if for some reason they don`t work, which is next to impossible, I do believe that they have a pair of shock absorbers at the bottom of the tower to prevent the ring of seats from hitting concrete at 67+ mph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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