Launch Direction

Volcanoe at KD actually has 8 rows of two seats. It is very similar to Hulk and is by far the best coaster at KD. And the expansion of KD is gonna happen year to year no rapidly, it will be very similar to CP know.

And one more thing....Hypersonic fast?! If you think 80 mph is fast! Again the ride is a joke. Bigger waste than TTD. Another S&S DUD!

First of all TTD is not a big waste. Its a great ride and attracts millions of people.

Secondly, what difference does it make which side you launch on.

I'm not saying it makes a difference but isn't it odd how most of them launch from the right side? And TTD isn't a waste. I liked it better than MF because overall the restraints worked better with me :)

Gomez said:
That's as simple as less cars less weight. Less weight, less power to accelerate the train.

I should also clarify that this applies to launch systems that have physical contact with the train (ie: hydraulic/air pneumatic).

Gomez:

I'm no expert on the matter, but doesn't your principle of less weight less power also pertain to LIM launching systems as well?

Let's see what Isaac Newton thinks about this:

Law of inertia (Second Law):

The relationship between and object's mass m, its acceleration a, and the applied force F is F=ma. Acceleration and force are vectors. In this law the direction of the force vector is the same as the direction of the acceleration vector.

JackLovesTTD said:
I know TTD launches from the right side, but why isn't there any coasters that I know that launches you from the left side? Sorry if it's a stupid question, I just thought of it when I woke up.

Probably the same reason car race ovals generally go counter-clockwise. Maybe something to do with the majority of the population being right handed and it "feels" better. :-)

It is obvious that Top Thrill Dragster launches this way so that the view from the top is toward Millennium Force.

Here is a link to the video:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5436830061709809951

Adam_loves_the_roller_coast said:
Gomez:

I'm no expert on the matter, but doesn't your principle of less weight less power also pertain to LIM launching systems as well?

You might be right, but we're on the topic about launch coasters and all LIM launch coasters use normal length trains (6,7 or 8 rows). All hydraulic launch rides use trains with 3,4, or 5 rows.

Actually this topic is on launch direction and therefore has nothing to do with train length. Don't try to cover up your error with feeble attemps to discredit my imput by questioning its validity to the original topic.
*** Edited 8/22/2006 4:06:19 AM UTC by Adam_loves_the_roller_coast***

Whoa.....adam that was a highly intense post. Reading that I think just made me smart with the use of words. WoW, I'm impressed. Maybe I'm just dumb but that honestly hurt my brain reading that...Dull it down a notch. LoL

I love about an hour and a half from King's Dominion. Hypersonic is really not that great. There's always a long line and the launch is REALLY short, the drop is small, and they strap your feet in. Volcano is the best one there.

Couldn't agree with you more CampBus...You live exactly as far away as I do! I'm in Manassas how bout you?

Dude? Why are you still bagging on Gomez? You said your piece and its over. We are here for the reason of Launch Direction like you so adimitly stated before. So lets just chill on the whole bashing of others here. You got your shot back at him now let it go.

Mr. Freeze at Six Flags Saint Louis launches on the left side of the top hat.

I wonder if in retrospect TTD should have been facing the other direction. I say this because if the wind is high coming from the west, it makes it more difficult to get over the top, therefore closing the ride. If they turned it around the wind would help push it over and close the ride less often. Of course I have no idea how many times this happens in a year.

It doesnt really matter on the direction of the wind. It's been closed on days when the wind was coming out of thesouthwest, and west, etc.

Muggsy said:
I wonder if in retrospect TTD should have been facing the other direction. I say this because if the wind is high coming from the west, it makes it more difficult to get over the top, therefore closing the ride. If they turned it around the wind would help push it over and close the ride less often. Of course I have no idea how many times this happens in a year.

I was thinking that too. But we'd really have a problem if we had sudden high winds move in and they were launching say 121-123 MPH that day. Then you'd have some serious over-speed problems

When you crest the hill of Dragster, aren't you facing South-Southwest?

I don't think you would have "over-speed" problems. Currently some launches go over fast and some very slow. The ones that go over very slow wouldn't get stopped by a headwind, and the ones that went fast would be marginally affected because they wouldn't be in the wind that long.

And yes you crest facing South-Southwest'ish

Yep, ssw! Sure doesnt seem like it with the way CP is positioned. I always call the 2 Skyride stations north and south when theyre really west and east.:)