restrainsts

What a bunch of scared WUSSES!

Get to Indiana Beach and ride Tig'rrr, if you dare. That's the first thing.

Second, GET OVER this "tighter is better" crap. You're going to hurt yourself on an insanely great coaster because you've got your lap bar down too tight. It's such a shame that more people don't understand a basic concept of what happens when a ride delivers airtime, as Magnum does.

Your body wants to follow a ballistic path. That is, when you are heading up a hill, your body wants to follow a nice parabolic trajectory. Usually, the seat prevents that from happening until you get to the top of the hill. There, the train is yanked downward by the track, and fails to follow that ballistic path. YOU, on the other hand, will follow the ballistic path established at the point where the train got yanked out from under you. If the ride is designed properly, the difference between the two paths is no more than a couple of *inches* and you can verify this if someone happened to leave some debris in the footwell in front of you.

Now here is the important bit. When you are launched up out of the seat, your rate of acceleration is equal to the difference between the train's pitch rate, and the ballistic path. That difference can be significant, and can create a significant vertical acceleration over a very brief period of time. For instance, a -1G acceleration over a period of 0.15 seconds will pop you about 4" into the air. If you have 4" of space between you and the lap bar, then you will float from the seat, lightly hit the lap bar, and come back down again. If you have no space between you and the lap bar, then you will still be thrown 4" into the air except that you will be immediately stopped by the lap bar. This is the functional equivalent of laying a metal pipe across your lap and having someone who weighs as much as you do jump on it from a height of four inches. Either way, you aren't coming out of the train. But you will find one scenario a lot more enjoyable than the other!

--Dave Althoff, Jr., who would rather have a little play in the lap bar...

I've been saying for years that comfortable and fun airtime on Magnum is achieve by a very tight seatbelt.

RideMan said:
What a bunch of scared WUSSES!

I couldn't have said it better myself. Why are we talking about modifying a perfectly good ride? A ride that people (those that aren't wimpy anyway) flock to ride over and over again every season. Magnum is a thrill ride, not a sofa, and not a big kiddie ride. The restraints are fine, the ride is fine, leave it alone.

Quite honestly, if they ruined Magnum, I'd have substantially less reason to go to CP. Where else can I ride a great ride like that over and over at night? Sure I enjoy many other rides there, but the lines on MF and Dragster are way too long to ride more than once and I can find impulses similar to WT and B&M loopers like Raptor or Mantis other places too probably closer to home. I can go to CP without riding one or two of these, but I can't go to CP without riding Magnum. It really is the most "special" coaster they have. I bet there are a number of people who would say the same.

And oh yea - sit all the way back (don't slouch) and pull your seatbelt tight. Jeff is right about that one.

The trick there is that the seat belt presents about three times the surface area as the lap bar. I tend to pull mine snug as the train pulls out of the turnaround. Saves my thighs that way.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

A tight seatbelt works every time.

What's the difference between a tight seatbelt and a tight restraint? I know I get TONS of airtime on MF and I like my restraints snug. I just don't like getting airtime and then slamming into a restraint. That's just plain painful.

I think the people were commenting that the hydraulic restraints fit a majority of people better because they're infinitely adjustable to each individual.

I really don't think anyone honestly thinks that CP will retrofit the maggie trains with hydraulic restraints. But, I find it fun to wonder what maggie would be like with MF type cars. Better, worse, who knows? We probably never will. But, its fun to wonder, right? :)

Lots of Guest of Exceptional sizes (including the one who posts here) can ride Magnum. The lapbar hurts, the seatbelt doesn't.

I leave my lapbard somewhat loose, and tighten my belt as tight as I can, and I still come way up out of my seat, and don't end up with bruises. I don't understand why it's so hard to understand that.

Im overweight for my height and age and such and the only problem ive had on a ride was MF but my hoodie was in the way there. as for slamming and such ive never noticed it.

I'll have to try your trick Dave. It seems, I can never get the belt tight enough in the station and by the time I hit the bunny hills, it's gotten loose enough to where I'm slamming up into the lapbar. I do agree that the best way to ride magnum is with a tight belt, thats when I've always had the best rides.

And Dave, thanks for the explaination. I really hadn't thought of the restraints in that way before.