When did "airtime" become such a big deal and why?

I have been interested in roller coasters for a while and only recently have I heard so much talk about airtime. I know that there are different strokes for different folks, but I have missed the boat on this one. Do people really enjoy the sensation of flying out of their seat more than hitting a high banked turn at a fast speed? Personally, I enjoy drops, banked turns, and speed. Airtime is alright but if I really want the feeling of weightlessness, I'll go swimming for half and hour.

Take the Magnum for example. The first couple drops and the pretzel shaped turnaround are great, but IMHO, the bunny hops are less than exciting and borderline painful on my quads. It is one thing to have some negative Gs but it is another to be jerked down into your seat.

As long as I've been reading/talking about coasters, I've heard about "airtime." I never understood the appeal either til recently. I don't know what changed for me....I think I became a little more fearless in my "old" age and I really got to liking that feeling of flying out of your seat.

I LOVE airtime! I can't swim, so flying is great for me.

I love the floating airtime on coasters like Millenium

Force. As far as the flying up out of your seat and then

being slammed down again, not so much.

The observation that I've made is that it's largely an American phenomenon until fairly recently. Coasters in Europe were much more likely to include strong laterals and turns. I think the reason has a lot to do with the proliferation of tall out-and-back coasters in the states, both wood and steel. Prior to that building craze, Europe was dominated by various Schwartzkopf rides that are all about the turns.

I've wondered the same thing for a long time. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE airtime! It just doesn't make the coaster, for me.

That's why I don't understand it when people say, "Millennium Force is overrated---it doesn't have any airtime." First of all...it does. And secondly, since when does a good ride have to be packed with airtime? I just don't get it.

I've never really judged a coaster solely on airtime. While a coaster with great airtime can be awesome, I would rather have a coaster with great airtime that has other elements thrown in (Voyage, for example).

I've got a canned response for this one. It started with Marcus Prater asking a very similar question on December 23, 1995. You can read the whole thread HERE or continue to just read my reply from message-ID 4c02p9$flk@acme.freenet.columbus.oh.us :

Marcus asked what is so important about airtime.

In response, I would like to pose a question: What does a roller
coaster provide to the rider?

A roller coaster ride is a complete experience. Elements of that
experience include the visual elements...headchoppers, foot choppers,
impossibly long or steep drops, large trains squeezing through tight
spaces, spindly scaffolds, and so forth. In many cases, this is where
the initial anxiety felt by many riders comes from...the sheer height
and impossibility of it all. Then there are the auditory
elements...the rushing wind, the clattering wheels, the ominous noise
of the safety ratchet.

Finally, the unifying element to all this is the varied physical forces
experienced by the rider. These forces are what convince you that this
is absolutely real. The danger that you imagine perched atop a 78'
hill is, in fact, real. When you fly 'round an impossibly tight curve,
you don't just see it, you *feel* it. This is why no simulator can
possibly recreate the feeling of actually being on a good coaster.

The forces exerted on a rider can be expressed as in terms of
direction. We associate various forces with different conditions.
During the course of a coaster ride, we are tilted backward for the
lift hill, lifted up for the drop, mashed down for the pull-outs, and
tossed sideways for the curves. Sudden accelerations of the train...as
hitting the bottom of a steep upward incline or the station brakes at
the end of the ride...even provide a forward force. In short, on a
good coaster, riders are subject to forces in at least five, and more
likely six, directions. It is this unique mixture of continuously
varying forces that, in my opinion, makes for a fantastic coaster ride.
This is also why I really don't like Raptor as much as Magnum,
Wildcat, or Blue Streak...B&M have done such a good job of making sure
that the rider only feels force in one direction that much of what I
ride a coaster for simply doesn't exist.

Of those forces, most are quite common, and completely expected. We
fall downward every time we sit down, and increasing that vertical
force is unusual, but not frighteningly so. Drive down a winding road,
and you are thrown left or right as you hit the curves. Approach a
freeway entrance for that rush of acceleration; encounter a traffic jam
for the opposite. This leaves only one force which, though we may
occasionally experience it in everyday life, is comparatively rare.
That force is an upward acceleration...either a reduction in apparent
weight, or total weightlessness as the coaster is ripped out from
underneath us. This is what we refer to as "air-time." It is a novel
experience, in which we are quite literally left hanging, in a
situation that we do not frequently encounter. The natural reaction to
this is a fear of getting pitched out, because our brains don't quite
know how to handle this unusual experience. This is the one sensation
that an amusement ride, particularly a roller coaster, can provide
which is normally not available anywhere else. Add to that the
coaster's ability to mix forces and you get the experience which sets a
coaster apart from any other event. This is where the out-of-control
feeling of a coaster really comes from...that sense of impending
disaster and the feeling that you can't do anything about it.

Give me lots of forces. That's what coasters are all about. In
particular, give me airtime. That's what makes the coaster so special.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

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I couldn't have said it better myself. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Personally I love airtime. A ride doesn't necessarily need it to be a great ride, but I love coasters with great airtime. Magnum is out of this world. But there is a lot to be said about the views you get from the top of a lift, or the quick turns.

If Mean Streak had at least 3 goods pops of air everyone would think it was one of the best coasters and they wouldn't want it replaced.

So therefore, all CP has to do to turn MS into a star attraction is to back-engineer three good pops of air into the layout.

Sounds good to me.

I like airtime, but not a ton of it. While I love Magnum's bunny hills, I do not think I would want to experience them in the ejector seat. lol.

I love the feeling of floating out of my seat. But I do not like the feeling of falling out. So I guess it all depends on where you sit at on a coaster. Some spots I love the air time, and others the last bunny hop is just a bit too much.

Nothing could make Magnum a bad ride though. :) Not even when I sat in the front seat and got sick from so much wind in my face.

You got wind in your face riding Magnum in the front seat? Interesting.

(the design of the car nose is such that when you sit in the front seat, the wind actually goes over your head and the prevailing wind actually comes from BEHIND you!)

Interesting that you don't like that falling feeling. The trick is that the "excitement" response is physiologically similar to the "fear" response, and so traditionally rides try to elicit the "excitement" response by creating something that will scare you.

In other words, it is supposed to be scary. That's the whole point!

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Dave said it much more thoroughly and eloquently than I could, but that's the gist of what I was going to say: It's not often we can experience similar forces as 'airtime' elsewhere in life. I wouldn't really compare swimming to that; I feel like the water is holding me up, not 'air.'

Airtime isn't necessarily my primary requirement for a coaster, but I did thoroughly enjoy the prolonged float sensation on Diamondback. I don't like the bunnies on Magnum, because of the immediate slam back down into the seat just as you start to experience the float. It also helps that Diamondback has such simple restraints that allow for both a feeling of weightlessness *and* safety. That is, I don't have the 'fear' sensation to distract me from enjoying the g's. :)

Dave, don't get me wrong...I love Magnum. It is my favorite coaster. Even when I sit in those particular seats that give a lot of air time, I still enjoy it. I would just prefer not as much air time. But that is why I choose the seats that appeal to my thrill factor.

I could have sworn it was the wind in my face that bothered me riding front seat. But this was 5 years ago. So I guess I will have to try again. :)

As for coasters being scary, that is not why I ride them. I love the thrill of going really fast, really high, being dropped, banked turns, and floating out of my seat...all while I can feel completely safe. I like when coasters are thrilling, not scary. If I find a coaster scary, I probably won't ride it again.

I am not sure if your post was meant to be like this or not, but it seems like you are coming off a bit condescending . While I love Cedar Point, I go to have fun. I do not completely understand the physics of all of the coasters, and that is fine with me.

If you did not mean it to come off that way, I apologize. Sometimes on a forum it is hard to get the exact tone of what someone is trying to say to you.

I will have to agree with most on this. Air time is fantastic.