Raptor Lifthill

Does anyone know why raptor kept stopping on the lift hill at the end of last year. Sure it wasn't that big of a deal, when the lines were short. They usually reset it in about 5 minutes. Just wondering..

Early in the season Raptor kept stopping because the computer was seeing trains where they weren't (I was stuck on the lift). So the ride would freeze a train on the lift and on the mid-course block. I don't recall any significant problems at the end of the season (except for the fact that the crew was so good moving people that they had to take off a train ;)).

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point

Its pretty much how Jeff explained it, the sensors that the Raptor uses to track the trains are very sensetive. If it registers something in front of it, say a large spider, the sensors will think it a train out of position and tell the train to stop.
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CHECK OUT MY CP PAGE
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Or bird poop... There's no shortage of that on Raptor!

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Jeff (who is excited that he had a legitmate reason to use the word "poop")
Webmaster/Guide to The Point

speaking of bird doody, what about MF? might is surpass Raptor in that capacity?? ....damn seagulls..

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"I think I scrambled my brain!!"

It is not inverted track though so if they land they have a good chance of getting hit.

I wounder why Irond Dragon dosen't have that problem. It's track is inverted.

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AKA: bodyin thewaterball fountain.

Paddlewheel Excursions: 12
Jokes on PE: 120

Raptor uses optical sensors on the runway immediately uptrack of the station. If a bird flies through in exactly the wrong spot, the computer will detect a fourth train. That will cause the third train to stop on the mid course, the ride to cascade, and so on. Iron Dragon does not use optical sensors; instead it has proximity switches, which are immune to flying birds. Different ways of doing things...find optical detectors on the courses of Corkscrew and Gemini, and in the transfer tables and stations of Magnum, Mean Streak, Mine Ride, Raptor, and I believe Mantis.

--Dave Althoff, Jr. *** This post was edited by RideMan on 1/9/00. ***

So elaborate, wise one.

One of your fellow ride hosts told me at the beginning of the season during the shut downs that indeed the computer was seeing trains where they were not. He also said something about one computer not agreeing with another. Frankly, that makes perfect sense to me.

And be careful when you question Dave... it's his job to know how these rides operate.

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point

Jeff, be careful when you defend Dave, because it is NOT my job to know how the rides operate. Not yet, anyway. I have taken some professional training in amusement ride inspection and safety, but I am not yet making a career of it, and unlike some people here, I DON'T work for Cedar Fair. It is more than a little bit possible that I missed something somewhere. Most of what I know about how the rides go together mechanically comes from watching them operate.

That said, there *are* optical pairs on the Raptor transfer table. I think that is the only place, though.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dave, where do you go about taking classes like that, because I am seriuosly interested in the industry. Any certain college?

The courses are offered by industry organizations through various Showman's Associations, through AIMS (Amusement Industry Manufacturers and Suppliers), IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions), and NAARSO (National Association of Amusement Ride Safety Officials). Honestly, because those courses are designed for people who are out working on the rides and inspecting the rides (I know much of the material was over my head!) and because they are rather expensive, the best course of action is to first get yourself into a position where such courses are important for your job, then get your employer to send you. If you are working in the maintenance division for Your Favorite Park (which is, of course..........), for example, the more you know the more valuable you are, so you have a very good reason to attend. If, on the other hand, you are merely an interested party like me, a better plan might be to concentrate on getting into a position with a park, manufacturer, or affiliated agency. It will certainly get you into the industry faster.

As far as education goes...if you want to be designing rides, you will want to be in engineering of some kind. Structural, mechanical, or electrical, anyway. But another place to look if you are interested in flat rides would be aeronautical engineering. Admittedly, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to design amusement rides, but it occurs to me that designing carnival rides to sling dynamic loads around at high speeds is not unlike designing aircraft. Hey, it worked for Lee Eyerly, Frank Hrubetz, and Ron Toomer to name three... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Of course, that isn't what I did

I never heard anyone yell hold when the train was going up the hill it stopped from some problem probably those sensors and the bird doo doo

Yes, accualy I was there on one day when the train stoped on the lift hill. When someone asked what happened the ride director said someond undid their seatbelt just as raptorboy said.

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-Chris
"Any day, is a great day, to ride a rollercoaster!"

just a little question - when the lift stops due to someone undoing their seatbelt, does the computer tell what car and seat number is that had the seatbelt undone?

Quinn

Wow, this one came up a long itme ago. If I remember correctly, none of the coasters have lap bar or safety belt position sensors, but Power Tower DOES. Someone else could answer this better for you, though... OH RIDE MAN..... ;)

Power Tower doesn't either, to the best of my knowledge...

There IS a detector on Raptor that can usually determine whether someone has unhooked a seat belt, though; sometimes it can even figure out which car and seat. The detector is located in the operator's tower. An unfastened belt hangs down below the seat, so when the detector notices that somebody has three legs, he hits the button and shuts down the lift. Right Raptorboy? 8-)

(hey, why would they bother with the cameras if nobody was watching?)

--Dave Althoff, Jr. *** This post was edited by RideMan on 1/11/00. ***

With Power Tower, I suspect there is some kind of restraint detection, because the ops in the booth are always calling for restraint checks. What sold me on this was the panel of electrical contacts, a cluster of 15 I think, that stick out perpendicular from the tower at the base, and contact a panel on the carriage when it's at rest. I don't remember it being there in '98.

Any PT operators care to share?

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Jeff
Webmaster/Guide to The Point

Hmmm...Well, it is certainly possible that they added bar position detection to Power Tower for the 1999 season. In particular, if they did it mid-season I wouldn't have noticed as I took one ride early in the season and was denied a ride in mid-season, and I haven't been back to that ride since. I am pretty sure that the bar release on that ride is electrical, but beyond that I don't know what systems it has on it.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I wouldnt swear to the seatbelt sensor thing on Raptor-several times during my 257 rides last season the lap belt came undone (I finally figured out I was the one doing it by accident)
Of course that was after the 1st lift hill and before the trim brakes.....
All I know is when I looked down cause something hit my leg and it was my lap belt dont think my heart didnt skip a beat.....RaptorDave laughed every time it happened too....
boy I miss ridin Raptor!!!


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Welcome back Raptor riders-how was your flight??

257 times luvraptor. WOW. I am impressed. How many times have you ridden it straight in one day. 23 straight times for me. I lost count of total rides last year after june.