Power Tower Freefall

Do you think Power Tower will ever freefall? I think it would make a much better ride instead of having the 2 that pull you down. I love the launching up, but the 2 that pull you down aren't really that good. I would love to just have a plain freefall like Lex Luthor Drop of Doom. Opinions?

I might be wrong, but as far as I know S&S has never built a freefall, so I highly doubt they would convert a stnding tower to a freefall. Not to mention all of the air mechanics in the tower would have to be taken out, which I don't think is possible to do.

To me it feels the same as Drop Tower at Kings Island. I can't tell a difference.

I miss Demon Drop :(

I miss Demon Drop too! It always made me laugh every time I rode it! It was fun!

I liked Demon Drop more than Power Tower. I wish they would have kept it.

I'd really rather have the shot up side become a double shot. I rode a double shot (Liberty Launch) at Holiday World and I thought it was as good if not better than any side of power tower, even though it was less than half the height of Power Tower. I think the current reason why it isn't a double shot is because it might have been to hard to handle the the extra energy and stress that would be involved to double shot a 240ft Power Tower as opposed to the usual double shots which are about 100ft. But the double shot design is well over a decade old and with better tech and engineering it could be possible to do.

Any thoughts?

Demon Drop felt much more intense than Power Tower. The drop side on Power Tower has been advertised as "faster than freefall". So would freefall really make a more intense experience?

Why'd they get rid of Demon Drop? If its because of Power Tower, that's pointless because Knott's and Dorney both have S&S towers.

^
1. To improve the look of the front of the park.
2. decreased ridership.
3. To free up space for future development and expansion.
4. The same reason why other parks around the world were getting rid of their first generation Intamin free falls, high maintenance costs. Cedar Point put it up for sale but they couldn't find a buyer. So instead of scraping it they moved it to Dorney so they could market it as a new attraction for very little cost to them.

I have known that the sides of the Power Tower are different, but I have never understood how they differ. Can someone explain the differences to me?

Thanks,
Dave

The 2 teal sides slowly take the car up, and then release the car attempting to make a kind of "freefalling" sensation. The 2 red sides start from the bottom, and then turbo thrust the car up into the air, then back down.

TwistedWicker77 said:
...then release the car attempting to make a kind of "freefalling" sensation.

They're actually thrust downward.

They are thrust downward, but only for the briefest instance. As soon as that thrust is applied, there seems to be a braking action. Not sure how that's working mechanically, but if it was truly freefall, after being thrust down (and hence, out of your seat), you would not instantly return to your seat. If it was true freefall, you would stay up out of the seat, shoulders against the harness.

All that said, the ride sucks a lot more than it needs to, given it's height. It could be so much better.

Look at Drop Tower at Kings Dominion. About the same height, and about a thousand times better, while giving a true freefall experience.

MaverickLaunch said:
As soon as that thrust is applied, there seems to be a braking action.

It's not braking, as far as I'm aware. Rather, what you may be feeling is simply the end of the acceleration or thrust.

...you would not instantly return to your seat.

That's never been my experience on PT.

If it was true freefall, you would stay up out of the seat, shoulders against the harness.

Actually, if it were true free fall, you'd touch neither the seat nor the harness.

I went digging and found this quote from Jeff all the way back from 2002.

"It's actually very simple.

The yellow tubes have a piston with cable attached to both ends. The cable loops from the piston, to the pully at the top or bottom, to the vehicle. If the vehicle is at the top, the piston is at the bottom in the tube, and vice versa.

Now, put one of those on all four sides. Flood the tube with compressed air and it forces the piston through the tube up or down, which in turn pulls the cable to make the vehicle go the opposite way.

The reason the bounce is so smooth is that the piston, when it reaches the other end of the tube, is compressing the air on that end of the tube, eventually forcing it go back the other way."

djDaemon said:

Actually, if it were true free fall, you'd touch neither the seat nor the harness.

Not really. If it was freefall, you would remain exactly where you were to start with, in the seat. Assuming no losses for friction, wind, etc.

What I was saying is that since initially, there is acceleration in excess of the amount of gravity (-9.8m/s^2) you rise out of your seat (ie, the "shot" downward). So, if, after the initial thrust downward, it was true freefall, you would actually remain out of your seat, shoulders against the restraints.

This is not what happens in my experience. After the initial thrust, there is a "freefall" (not really) which is accelerates less quickly than the rate of gravity...sending me back to my seat. Which is why the ride sucks, IMO.

Not really. If it was freefall, you would remain exactly where you were to start with, in the seat. Assuming no losses for friction, wind, etc.

You mean like the penny I would put on my leg on Demon Drop?

Right, a true freefall means zero G, which means you are floating in space. I always floated on Demon Drop, I never stayed in the seat.

On the S&S towers, the car is attached to cables at all times. It pulls it up and it holds onto it on the way down, etc.

On the intamin towers, there is a catch car that pulls the riders up to the top then releases the car. This is a literal freefall. The brakes are at the bottom of the tower.

In my opinion, this is why Intamin towers are a bit more intense. It gives a more "out of control" feeling. The S&S towers are a bit more controlled because of the cables.