Power Tower

Does anyone know if the power tower cars ever "hit the top?" I was riding the up tower the other day and I felt a jolt at the top. I thought that I hit the top of the tower or something. Can that happen?

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Race For The Sky!

The space shots will not hit the top because all of the air in the tube would have to compress, and the air propelling the car would need to be enough to shoot it that high (and it never is).

If you're talking about the turbo drops, then yes, they're lifted to the top and clamped in until released.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

Actually, Jeff... :-)

We've had overshoots...when the weight sensors aren't calibrated correctly, and the cart overweighs, resulting in too much air pressure for a lighter-than-expected load. It's bumped the top before, but it's not a dangerous situation where it will "fly off the top" as others have suggested in the past. It's just kind of a bump...you can hear it on the ground, and you can definitely feel it on the ride (Yes, I was one of the lucky ones last year)...and the ride auto-E-stops itself. Just an FYI.

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Alan
PTC02/ScrewCrew02
ScrewCrew03

will the top wear down if it happens too much?

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It's like a new pair of underwear; at first it's constrictive... but after a while it becomes a part of you. -Garth Algar

I've never experienced the "bump" on the space shot. But the jolt when reaching the top of the drop side ALWAYS freaks me.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

I really do believe I hit the top. I had never felt that jolt before on the up tower. The down tower lock/jolt freaks me, too!

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Race For The Sky!

The only space shots I've felt roughness, or a jolt on top are the towers that are only space shots (like detanator @ WOF). This is because the pressure tubes and cables dont go all the way up the tower. You feel the jolt after the cart passes the top pulleys.

AlanPTC02 said:
Actually, Jeff... :-)
We've had overshoots...when the weight sensors aren't calibrated correctly, and the cart overweighs, resulting in too much air pressure for a lighter-than-expected load.

I believe you, but are you saying then that all of the air above the piston then is evacuated from the tube? I thought there was a valve up there that stopped it as some point so as to provide the "backward" bounce that propelled the car back downward.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - Sillynonsense.com
DELETED! What time does the water show start?

here's a related question: has the ride ever had trouble braking on the way down? it seems like the results would be disaterous if that ever occurred. would riders just end up hitting the ground, or is there some sort of back-up brake in place?
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i'm the product of a summer romance: my parents met at cp in '75!

I'm not a technical person by no means, but I've noticed there are four "plungers" on the bottom of the drop side towers that I assume act the same way as the as the ones on the top of the shot side do.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

the "backward" bounce

I had thought that was plain old gravity, since the air isn't quite as forceful as on the drop shot. Goes to show, you don't evern know...

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It's not war, famine, or pestilence; it's only downtime.

i sure that they also have magnets to stop the fall. magnets is a natural source and will almost never fail. that's why they have them on ttd.

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It's like a new pair of underwear; at first it's constrictive... but after a while it becomes a part of you. -Garth Algar

I don't think they have magnets. You would be able to see fins or something.

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Race For The Sky!

I'm fine when i'm going up on the drop side but when we jolt at the top it always makes me nervous.And it seems like one side does it harder than the other.The one that's closer to the front of the park.

Oh man, the little "pop" you get out of your seat when the down-side reaches the top and locks into place, DANG I HATE THAT!! That alone freaks me out more than any other part of that ride. I also sit with my arms AROUND my shoulder harness and push myself down so I dont pop-up, makes me look like im a scared kid or something though, lol.

Draken, I do the same thing. I hopped on Dragster opening day this year not being scared at all, yet the drop side on Power Tower scares the crap out of me.

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2003 Statistics
Top Thrill Dragster: 7
Millennium Force: 18
Trips to the point: 20

I think that bump that people are feeling is definitely air pushing down from the top. It's like a wall of air that stops the car from hitting the top and propells it to the ground. The sound can be heard from the ground; once on the way up and again on the way down.

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Ohio State, here I come!

Please, could someone tell me just how Power Tower works? I know it uses compressed air but, from that, I am totaly confused. Thanks

I agree with the people who say Power Tower going down is the scariest ride they have ever been on, it is one of the few rides that leave you at the top. If that isn't enough, when you are at the top, a second seems like a minute and you just don't know when it is going to let you go. Half way up, I started thinking "I want to get off but there is no turning back now" The only way down is to go up.

When I am at the top I start to think about crazy things, "what if this ride never lets me go down?", "what if I hit the ground, what is going to stop me?" or "Should I take in a breath or am I going to lose it when I drop?"

The view is great but after it let's go of you, you are fine to experience the rest of the ride.

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Life has it's ups and downs, might as well make it on a coaster!

If you want to make the Turbo Drop side more interesting, when at the top, let go of the harness and extend your arms outward. I know people that find it unsettling to do this while sitting 240 feet up in the air.