Rita...Queen of Speed

Who says it has to be a launch? They could use LIMs to give the ride a nice speed boost mid-ride and it wouldn't necessarily be a launch. :-)

-Josh

Dictionary.com
To throw or propel with force;

It doesn't have to start at rest for it to be a launch. ;)

I just don't see it happening. I think we are looking at a traditional coaster, possibly a cable lift, but I'm not banking on it.

Finally, some sanity.

The only reason I could see a cable lift is because I could see Intamin using that as their primary lift system from now on. But chains seem to be much more reliable than cable lifts.

I agree, though with a smaller lift and lessons learned, I think a cable lift is a very strong possibility. If for no other reason than for Intamin to prove that (re)design worthy of future consideration.

Cable lifts are used to move a train up a steep incline quickly. If this ride is not going to be very tall (relatively) or is not crammed into a short amount of space, I don't think we'll be seeing a cable lift.

Cable lifts also seem to 'toss' the train over the hill quicker. Unless this ride has some very large inversions, I don't think we'll be seeing a cable lift.

MF is the only ride I'm aware of that uses a cable lift. That doesn't mean it must be used only on really tall coasters. It could also be used on smaller coasters.

Grovite, I don't understand the connection between the cable lift mechanism and the inclination, height or the fact that the MF lift accelerates as it nears the top. Those are simply characteristics of that coaster, not necessarily of the lift mechanism.

El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure uses a cable lift too. Or, it WILL use a cable lift when it opens.

Goliath at Six Flags Holland (150 ft.) uses a cable lift. Also, doesn't Expedition GeForce?

There's a LOT of Intamin coasters with cable lifts now. To be honest, I don't think the cable "throwing" the train over the top of MF has a great deal of effect on the speed, either.

-Josh

edit:

JuggaLotus said:

Dictionary.com
To throw or propel with force;

It doesn't have to start at rest for it to be a launch. ;)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.... I know, I know.... I was just saying that everyone's *IDEA* of a launch coaster isn't necessarily the case. It's certainly a possibility to use LIMs for more than just a 3..2...1..screeeech.

I mean, California Screamin' uses LIMs as a lift hill and it works pretty well. *** Edited 5/24/2006 4:25:03 PM UTC by e x i t english***

Intamin had made a point to say that they worked on developing the cable lift for MF because they had to build so steep. To my knowledge it'd be either impossible, or very, very difficult to get a chain working at 45 degrees.

Cedar Point had pretty limited space to work with on MF so making the hill steeper and instituting a new method of lift that could work at that angle was the result.

*edit*

And my "throwing" effect just means that the train goes over the top at around 13mph or however fast the cable moves and has speed going into the drop, rather than creeping over at 5mph or however fast a chain moves and gaining speed only from the drop. The only way I could see a cable working here is if it was a short hill so that the train would already have some speed going into the drop and could maximize the speed before hitting whatever the first element is. But then again, they wouldn't need to build a cable lift for a short hill, so I just don't think we'll be seeing one. *** Edited 5/24/2006 4:28:29 PM UTC by Grovite18***

Grovite18 said:

The only way I could see a cable working here is if it was a short hill so that the train would already have some speed going into the drop and could maximize the speed before hitting whatever the first element is. But then again, they wouldn't need to build a cable lift for a short hill, so I just don't think we'll be seeing one.

I think you're missing the point. The correlation between the cable lift and MF is completely irrelevant. Intamin, as was pointed out above, has used their cable lift design on coasters with shorter and less-steep lifts than MF, which indicates they are perfecting the design and utilizing it in an increasing amount of their coaster designs. Their reasoning for this could be anything from ease/cost of maintenance on up to a higher profit margin. Regardless of the reason, they are using it more often.

Perhaps they wouldn't "need" to use a cable lift, but that certainly would not mean that they won't, especially when you consider that other smaller coasters use it. So, the size of the hill is irrelevant. I cannot think of any reason why we wouldn't see a cable lift on this ride, unless its launched - which I'd bet a lot of money against.

Yes, but I was saying that Millennium Force was the FIRST one they installed it on and those were the reasons they did it. ;)

I don't think either of us is misreading each other so much as we both mixed messages. ;)

Also, going over at 13 MPH versus 5 MPH isn't going to help better utilize the drop, because in the end, you're still falling from the same height. Sure, it might add 1 MPH, but Millennium still goes 92-93 at the bottom of the drop whether its from a dead stop, or with the speed from the cable.

-Josh

I think the major reason the cable lift was used was for speed. Yes, the angle had a lot to do with it too, but using a chain to get to the top of a 310' hill would take too long. It takes long enough to get to the top of Magnum. Yes, I think the duration of Magnum's lift is awesome and adds to the excitement of the ride, but i think on MF, it would've been agonizing. Not to mention the wait time would be all that much longer too. :)

If I remember correctly, I could be wrong, the reason they went with the elevator lift on MF was the concern over the weight of the chain on a 310 foot lift.

But that argument goes out the window with Steel Dragon, which uses a chain lift.
However this picture and this picture make it appear as though it uses two separate chains to accomplish the task. So I guess it is possible to do it with a chain lift, just not one continuous chain.

edit: links. *** Edited 5/24/2006 7:57:08 PM UTC by JuggaLotus***

Actually Grady, I remember hearing something along those lines as well.

Jugga, I didn't say it wasn't possable to do it with chain, just that there was a concern about the weight.

^ Exactly, SD2000 uses 2 chains :)