Dragsters Launch Track Distance?

Does anyone know the distance from launch to vertical on Dragster? I have to write an article and it's the only piece of information I can't seem to find.

It's around 480' from very beginning of launch track, to the end of the catch car track. From there to the point where the incline starts, it's just over 550'. Anything after that involves some technical knowledge of the layout and math since there's radii and stuff involve.

Thanks, Adam. I figured you would have a good answer. :)

By "the end of the catch car track" do you mean the separate track the catch car travels down or where it releases the train? I thought the catch car travels further down the track after it releases the train so it can stop.

There is no release point for the catch car.

When the cable drum reaches the proper speed, the system stops feeding high pressure oil to the motors, causing the drum to essentially coast until the catch car hits the brake fins at the end of the catch car track. In other words, once the whole system hits the programmed speed (which is calculated dynamically based on the ride performance) the catch car starts to slow down, and as soon as the train is going faster than the catch car, the train over-runs the catch car and disengages.

For real fun, try an E-stop on a launch. Hopefully the system is set up so that in an E-stop condition the catch car slows first and allows the train to disengage BEFORE the brakes come up. Otherwise all kinds of fun can happen!

(DID happen to Kingda Ka; might have happened to Dragster...)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Yea, all kinds of dangerous, dangerous fun. I'm sure A LOT of "looking into" went in to preventing something like Ka's incident from happening at Dragster and the other hydraulic launch coasters.:)

What I was referring to was the trough that the catch car is in. I count that as the whole "launch track". The actual length of track in which the train accelerates is shorter and can vary in certain conditions(as explained by Dave). My guess is that the system gets the train up to the desired speed (aka where the pressure stops being fed) is right before the catch care brakes. Though I only know soo much about Dragster. I'm not Sandors after all. :P

So the section from where the catch car is in ready position to the feeder wheels/where the trough ends, is what I count as launch track. I'm not sure how specific you wanted Prawo.:)