Launch

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TopThrillDragster03 said:
I only been on TTD but I couldn't see how any launch on a coaster could be more intense.

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believe me, its possible... HyperSonic's launch is absolutely insane! not as insane as Top Thrill Dragster, but insane nonetheless. now if only i could get on Dodonpa....
Roulette, HyperSonic XLC also has a christmas tree...

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"it's like eating in the kitchen of a delightful italian stereotype!"
Trips to Cedar Point: 2
Dragster: 3 Millennium Force: 41
Raptor: 30 Wicked Twister: 13

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Tom, did you figure that all out yourself, or did you find somebody else's calculations?

Either way, I may print that out for handy-dandy reference!

And "dizzam" I didn't realize that Dodonpa was that crazy go nuts. I thought that XLC was crazy go nuts... I gotta get to Japan.

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- John
*** This post was edited by Michael Darling 5/28/2003 10:35:29 PM ***

The whole thing is pretty much a blur. I don't think that the human brain can actually keep up with the ride. I know that with my experience on TTD that I can only remember bits and pieces of the ride. I remember that it looked like a TV show's "tunnel vision" as your are being launched...everything to both sides of you are a blur. Just as if you are watching from the grandstands and the train going by is a blur, that's the peripherial vision blur you see while experiencing on-ride. You feel as if your eyeballs are being pressed back into your head. It seems to go on for a long time, and then you are going straight up. Then you are cresting the top for a short glimpse of the water and land, then the next thing you know you are traveling down in a short spiral. Lastly you cross the finish line and coast to the brakes! If you raise your arms, you are straining to keep them straight with the force of the wind trying to whip them back. When you get off, you hardly remember the ride...then slowly it all comes back to you in bits and pieces.

The best way to ride is in the front, hands up after launch (pretending to steer a steering wheel keeps you out of trouble until you see the mag. brakes go down)...after that...prepare for the most intense feeling of propulsion you have ever felt...like a time warp, or something.

At the end, if you were lucky enough (ahem) to have encountered a bug, you now get to wipe your face free from it. No, wait...wipe again. It's still not gone. One more time. Ok...pull down your sleeve and scrub that darned bug that has been embedded into your face pores, it's the only way you'll get it off!!! Trust me on this guys, it happened to me! The kids about had a fit saying how "sick" that was! (It only stung a "little" when it smashed into me!)

Well i have been in a '87 Vette actually got to drive it once, this launch makes it feel like it has a four banger in the Vette! The amount of speed you have from the start is just insane. Words can't describe what this ride does to you. when you get off it you don't know if you have done the ride or it has done you! (Not meant to be taken as a sick joke)

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If beating old people is wrong, i don't want to be right! hehe

trips to CP:3 Dragster:1 MFer:4 Magnum: 8 doesn't get any better then a nice day in may!

Michael, way back when TTD was being constructed, someone else posted the formula. However, I did all the math by myself (go figure). Im not into plagerism.

Tom

Thanks Tom for the great numbers comparing the various launches.

When I first heard about Dragster's specs (many months ago) I became curious how its launch specs compared to a fighter being launched from an aircraft carrier. When I saw Tom's numbers, it motivated me to find out.

Per http://pumas.jpl.nasa.gov/PDF_Examples/03_23_02_1.pdf, here are the stats:

0-to-175 MPH in 2.4 Seconds (309')
This equals 3.3G.

So Dragster is not quite this quick, but we are getting there. It's as close as I'll ever come (and as close as I want to come) so launching off an aircraft carrier.