MaXair

I am going to Cedar Point on May 27-29, and I was just wondering if anybody has any info on MaXair. Last I heard it was broken down and awaiting a part. I hope it is ready by then. Also I've never been to the park this early in the season(1st time pass holder) so I am curious if all the rides and attractions are fully opened and operating. Also how busy should I expect the park to be? I have only attended in mid August when it is pretty busy, will it be much less busy or about the same? Thanks

Not to take a big jab at Six Flag's, but that's just not how CP works. All rides open all the time [maintenance and weather permitting].

maXair was awaiting parts for the last part of 2007, but it's been over six months since it first went down, so I think the part is in.

From what I've heard, maXair will be open. Toward the end of last season, it blew a part that takes a long time to fabricate, and so it was down for the last month or so, but 'm sure the part doesn't take more than seven months to build. All of the rides should be open. They try their best for opening day to go as perfectly as possible. Depending on the day of the week you're going, crowds shouldn't be too bad. May is usually pretty light when it comes to crowds.

If I wasn't working at the park, I would be there the first Monday the park is open. 20 minutes is generally a long wait on weekdays in the beginning of May.

Ah so that's why the MaxAir was down on closing day. :( I was wondering about that.

I tend to usually go in May myself (before or after Memorial weekend, not during). I took a risk on Memorial Day weekend and it was crowded, waited 30 minutes just to get on the Witches Wheel, and that line usually isn't that long.

I figure everyone is still in school before June so you won't get the crowds you normally get during the summer.

Maxair is a messed up, retarded, pointless, operational dud of a ride and even if they fix the silly thing, it's not worth it to ride it ever again!! :) :)

I never rode it, but I want to try it this year. I have to get my courage up to ride things for some reason. (2 years ago I was afraid of the Gemini, but I rode it and now I consider it just a fun coaster. I still scream my head of on the Raptor though).

Anyway, pointless or not, I want to try it at least once :)

I love maXair. It has a long ride cycle, the way it pulls you out of your seat at the top of each swing still gives me a scare, and best of all the line is generally never over 30 minutes during the height of summer.

Now if only Skyhawk got a longer ride cycle, I would say the say.

And to short-cut the posts that will follow, they'd have to put in bigger air-tanks and increase the between ride time to make Sky Hawk's ride time longer.

I'm not sure if that's the case exactly.

I tried the Skyhawk test seat last year, but I couldn't fit (now that I'm losing weight I might fit), I could fit in the MaxAir test seat, but I was too much of a chicken.. this year I feel a lot more bravery.

I agree with the SkyHawk though, it looks like a very short ride for what it is.

Bigger tanks, yeah, but I'd bet that the 35 minute load time is adequate to charge the larger tanks.

The ride power is generated by pressure in the tanks, as the pressure goes down, it is able to exert less force. The problem is getting it to create thrust late in the ride cycle. You could increase pressure in the tanks, but the pumps are only rated to a certain PSI as are the tanks.

So, you would have to replace the tanks to ones that could take a higher PSI, as well as possibly replace the motors to ones that could do the job. Remember, using these motors to pump to a higher PSI could cause them to wear out soon. Plus to reach that higher pressure it would take the pumps longer to get there, and I doubt the extra pressure needed to consequentially extend the ride time would be insignificant to the overall filling process.

Anyway, that's just my thoughts on it.

I really just wonder if they're pushing the ride to it's fullest right now. One more full swing would add so much to the ride.

I'm not sure on this, but I heard that Skyhawk slows down much faster than the other Screamin' Swings. I'm not 100% sure on that though.

And in all seriousness, I'd bet that the ride is designed to pressurize the tanks far more quickly than the amount of time they have, given that the load cycle is so crazy long. But the issues about whether or not the pumps could reliably handle the increased system pressure is something else entirely.

It could be that to speed up the unload half of the cycle, they are using some of the available air to reverse the pulley's and slow it down more quickly (if that makes any sense). So it gets that last swing in, and rather than going for another and then mechanically braking, they are using the air pressure to oppose the pump. Probably wrong, but as good a theory as any if what you say is right.

ladyjerrico said:
Anyway, pointless or not, I want to try it at least once :)

I think you'll love it. MaXair is one of the best, most fun rides at Cedar Point in my opinion.

^^How would the mechanical brake be described as exactly? I'm assuming it would be located inside the towers since I never noticed any such device on the outside. What I thought (based on my own assumptions) was that the tanks released air to the actuators on "levels" and that a certian percentage of air in each tank was essential for braking each arm (which explains how sometimes, one arm will stop and the other will still slighty swing).

Of course I have no real clue how it truely works. I can only look at something as it's working and say "Oh, that must be doing this to make that do that!" The only kind of knowledge I have of pneumatics, anyway, is from one semester of engineering. :P

Maybe I'm delusional, but I swear I had one ride on Skyhawk a few weeks after it opened where we had 4 full swings. I was watching the cycles before and after I rode, and it was doing 4 swings on all of those cycles too.

^^ - There could be a brake inside the tower up on the axles, or even on the pulley's. Not knowing the full mechanics makes it a bit hard (and its been a while since I've gotten a good look at it).