Sky Hawk

I rode it thinking it would be like a big fast swing. During the part of the ride when it reaches full height, on the down swing I would white out, like a near faint. This ride is intense! Does anybody else feel a little insecure or uneasy about the safety of this ride?

The seats for Skyhawk are quite cunningly designed. They're made to make you feel as though you're in danger, perhaps on the brink of flying out of the restraints, but are actually very safe. It still gets me a little bit every time.

Once as I was riding Skyhawk near closing one of the ride operators decided to ride the ride too. He sat down and buckled the seatbelt but didn't have his bar pushed down when they come around to do that. On purpose obviously. They ran the ride and he was right next to me and it was the scariest thing ever. At full extension he would come completely out of the seat about 12" and fly into the lap bar. He brought his knees towards his chest to keep himself in. The woman on the other side of him a few seats down totally freaked when she saw this. The guy was laughing hysterically.

Ever since seeing that I try to have my lap bar as loose as possible on that ride. Push your stomach out and arch your back right before they push down on the bar. It's still totally safe, but adds a lot to the experience when you fly out of the seat.

Should have ripped his nametag off after the ride and taken it to park ops.

And ripped the nametag off the other ride hosts that allowed him to ride like that and reported them also. I think Skyhawk used to have some type of RF link from the lap bars to the ride controler that prevented this type of stupid and childish behavior. Obviously, they must not be using that system any more.

I saw something similar on Magnum a few weekes ago, where the ride host allowed a friend to ride Magnum with the lap bar virtually up. Not sure if the friend was a CP employee or not. Managment needs to find a way to crack down on this type of behavior, not only is it dangerous but it makes other guests uncomfortable when they witness it.

Wow, that is ridiculous....

MagnumFan said:
Ever since seeing that I try to have my lap bar as loose as possible on that ride. Push your stomach out and arch your back right before they push down on the bar. It's still totally safe, but adds a lot to the experience when you fly out of the seat.

I skipped this part the first time I read your post.

I would like to be the first to provide congratulations on your future Darwin Award.

Sky Hawk gets me every time. It's the only flat/coaster in the park that scares me. I always feel like I'm going to come out of my seat.

Pete said:
And ripped the nametag off the other ride hosts that allowed him to ride like that and reported them also. I think Skyhawk used to have some type of RF link from the lap bars to the ride controler that prevented this type of stupid and childish behavior. Obviously, they must not be using that system any more.

I am pretty sure that its still in play. When I rode it in late September the ride controller had a host check a specific seat's lap bar. Don't know why they would have done that if something did not tell them to.

I would suspect that the bar would only need to be clicked one notch to get it to engage. I think it would have been pretty easy for that host/rider to lower it just one click to make the computer give it the safe indication.

Doesn't MaXair have a feature that makes the restraints tighten up more as the ride is starting? I know I've tried to keep a little room on it only to have it tighten down on me when the ride starts to move. I wonder why Sky Hawk doesn't have a similar function.

MaxAir (a ride a few years older) has a go/no go per seat system that displays the wheel on a screen and it won't allow you to dispatch the ride if any seat's not in the correct position. I'd imagine a newer/similar ride such as SkyHawk to have a system like it.

Kyle2154 said:
Doesn't MaXair have a feature that makes the restraints tighten up more as the ride is starting?

Yes, I believe it uses compressed air to give the seats one last squeeze before it takes off. However, that ride carriage is so bulky and the restraints are so huge. Skyhawk in contrast is pretty minimal so I'd imagine that would add a fair amount of complexity to the ride.

Keith.Fox said:
Does anybody else feel a little insecure or uneasy about the safety of this ride?

I dont. It has ran for a few years now, and nothing has happened. I trust all of the restraints/rides at CP and never have any fear while on a ride.

Yes I trust them because these rides get tested daily, and there have been little incidents for Cedar Fair parks... but I'm just saying this ride is more intense than I thought. And I was spooked being fastened in tight. Couldn't imagine being thrown around loosely in a belt with no lapbar. They stop Millennium Force daily because people try that. They are all crazy.

I'm too afraid to get on MaxAir!

Me too. Not for restraint reseasons, but because it makes me sick. :)

I think one of the ride's best design feature is the illusion of insufficient restraint. While I would never say that I've left the lapbar "loose," I have been on a few cycles where I had maybe an inch or two slack, and the feeling of total weightless floating at the apex of the swing was phenomenal.

I've definitely had a few rides where the lap bar was really loose. It's simply incredible, haha

Kyle2154 said:
Doesn't MaXair have a feature that makes the restraints tighten up more as the ride is starting? I know I've tried to keep a little room on it only to have it tighten down on me when the ride starts to move. I wonder why Sky Hawk doesn't have a similar function.

SkyHawk does have a similar function. Sometimes the ride hosts will try to dispatch the ride but the computer doesn't let them. It also looks like there is some type of computer system under the seats on that ride.

I had a really loose lapbar on this ride last night that the operator seemed to be cool with. Prior to the ride starting up, I made a standing motion to see if wiggling out was possible. I got my butt maybe 6" off the seat, but then the lapbar hit me mid-thigh; there was no way that a man of my height could get out of that, mostly due to the fact that your knees are much higher than your butt on this ride. So while it felt loose, the restraint system is more effective than it seems.

Funny enough, the ride cycle was frustratingly short last night, and they only let us reach the apex twice before slowing it down. The hang-time when I was facing the ground was well worth it though.

Also, while on Blue Streak last night, the operator only pushed my lapbar down to about 45 degrees. That was an airtime bonanza.